Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2023
427. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the staffing levels in the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority; the appointments to date and their salaries, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26329/23]
View answerThe Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 provides for a new dedicated agency to regulate our maritime area. The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) will be responsible for granting consents which will be required before a development can apply for planning permission in the maritime area; granting licenses for specified activity; ensuring robust compliance through enforcement measures and managing the existing State Foreshore consent portfolio.
With such wide-ranging remit extensive preparatory work is underway in advance of its formal establishment. A dedicated business unit is in place within my Department leading the critical work to enable the timely establishment of MARA. A breakdown of the current staffing complement of this unit is below. All staff of this unit are civil servants and as such are paid under the civil servants payscales which can be viewed on the Civil Service Payscales website at the following link - civilservicepayscales.per.gov.ie .
|
Grade |
Headcount |
|
Principal Officer |
1 |
|
Assistant Principal Officer |
3 |
|
Engineer Grade 1 Civil |
1 |
|
Higher Executive Officer |
4 |
|
Executive Officer |
3 |
|
Clerical Officer |
1 |
|
Total |
13 |
An additional 8 staff are expected to join the unit in the coming weeks. All staff of the Establishment Unit will transfer to MARA under a secondment arrangement when MARA is formally established, to ensure there is continuity in respect of the work. MARA's Chief Executive will take up duty in advance of its formal establishment.
Informed by a Strategic Workforce Plan and Skills Needs Assessment, it is expected that MARA will need to expand to a workforce to at least 30 as soon as possible to allow it to undertake its statutory functions. Staffing resources will be required across administrative, legal, financial, technical and environmental areas. MARA has been allocated a budget of €4.3m for 2023, including €2.4m for payroll related costs. A staff complement of approximately 60 is envisaged as being required in the medium term. MARA will be formally established on 17 July 2023.
