Plans to protect Ireland's marine areas have taken a major leap forward.

The government has approved the General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill.

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, made the announcement before travelling to the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, in Montréal, Canada.

Minister Noonan said: "This is fantastic and much-anticipated news for everyone who cares about our oceans, our coastline and our treasured island environment. Ireland's marine environment is rich in biodiversity, providing huge benefits for our economy, our health and well-being, for coastal communities, food provision and climate adaptation. It also offers enormous renewable energy potential for our country and our people, which this government is committed to harnessing.

"We started from a low base of 2.3% marine protection in 2020, but since I became Minister we have more than tripled the overall size of protected areas in the sea to 8.3%, and are on track to reach 10% by the middle of next year. This, plus progress on the new MPA Bill, puts Ireland in an excellent position to deliver on its ambition for protected areas across 30% of our maritime area – that's twice the size of our landmass – by 2030.

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"My announcement today of government approval for the General Scheme of stand-alone Marine Protected Areas legislation, as well as new sites protected for biodiversity conservation at sea under the European Nature Directives, shows that by working together we can address the pressures we put on the ocean and its natural resources, and build a better ocean future for the benefit of people and nature, now and into the future."

The MPA Bill is designed to deliver a modern framework for designating and effectively managing protected areas in our seas and ocean, one that can help to address the current biodiversity and climate crises. Work on the Bill has been informed by a comprehensive expert group report on MPAs published in 2021, and the outcomes of stakeholder and public participation and consultation. The scientific, technical and participatory approaches set out in the forthcoming MPA Bill are intended to ensure that practical and effective area-based conservation action and management measures will be taken to protect our highly valued marine biodiversity and other ecosystem features. This will contribute to Ireland achieving very high standards of environmental protection and sustainable use that are required under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, said: "Today's announcement at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 demonstrates Ireland's global and national commitment to having clean, healthy, biologically diverse and sustainably used seas and oceans. As an island nation, our seas and our ocean are absolutely crucial for Ireland. Our maritime area is seven times the size of our landmass, and it supports our economy, inward and outward trade, our energy supply and communications systems - as well as our climate, our environment, our cultural traditions and heritage, our health and well-being. This milestone in bringing Marine Protected Areas legislation forward supports the achievement of this government's ambitions for the protection of our precious marine environment, while ensuring the sustainable use of its resources including supporting Ireland's offshore renewable energy ambitions."