Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by 12 countries whose scientists had been active on the ground in Antarctica during the international geophysical year of 1957-58. It entered into force in 1961 and has since been signed by many other nations. The current total stands at 58. Some important provisions of the treaty are as follows: Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only; freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and co-operation toward that end shall continue; and scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available.

Among the signatories of the treaty were seven countries, Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom with territorial claims and sometimes these were overlapping. Other countries do not recognise any claims and the US and Russia maintain a basis of claim. All positions are explicitly protected under Article IV, which preserves the status quo . It states:

No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force.

There is a protocol on environmental protection to the treaty, which was signed in Madrid on 4 October 1991 and entered into force in 1998. It designates Antarctica “as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science.” Article 3 of the environmental protocol sets forth basic principles applicable to human activities in Antarctica and Article 7 prohibits all activities relating to Antarctica mineral resources except for scientific research. The environmental protocol established by the committee for environmental protection is an expert advisory body to provide advice and formulate recommendations to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, ATCM, in connection with the implementation of the environment protocol.

The treaty also has protected areas, something I hope we will discuss before the summer break in relation to marine protected areas in Ireland. This protects Antarctic flora and fauna and an area in Antarctica may be designated in this regard to protect outstanding environmental scientific, historic or aesthetic or wilderness values.

This is a hugely important treaty. In light of the US Administration’s recent brazen and imperious attempt to take over Greenland and desire to exploit resources there, particularly rarer minerals but also oil reserves, I think that Ireland as a peaceful nation, a respected neutral country, could not only benefit from becoming a signatory to the treaty but could also provide an invaluable contribution to the aspiration and the ambition of this unique treaty.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee’s predecessor, Simon Coveney, reversed a previously held view that Ireland would not benefit from membership and became an enthusiastic supporter of Ireland joining. He conveyed this to me in writing and in discourse during our time in government together.

Ireland has a rich heritage of Antarctic exploration with Sir Ernest Shackleton and the legendary exploits of Tom Crean being among the most memorable. Indeed, this legacy is celebrated in the wonderful Shackleton Experience museum open in Athy. We owe it to their legacy and all the Irish explorers and scientists who have contributed to our ever-expanding knowledge of this great continent. Understanding Antarctica better will help us in our fight against climate breakdown. Protecting it will ensure it will continue to be a vast repository for global biodiversity.

Antarctica is the Earth's only continent that humans have not inhabited and the only one not exploited by us. The Antarctic Treaty is the only means by which we can ensure that it remains as a gift to all of humanity, not to be plundered by a superpower but to be respected for the vital role the continent plays in ensuring that our planet remains habitable for future generations. I ask the Minister of State to urge his Government colleagues to allow Ireland to play its part in the protection of this great continent.

I thank the Senator for raising this important topic and for his advocacy for Ireland becoming a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty. In 2021 the Taoiseach requested that the Minister for Foreign Affairs re-examine the merits of accession to the Antarctic Treaty System, ATS, in keeping with Government policy in respect of climate change, biodiversity and multilateralism. On foot of this, the Department of Foreign Affairs commissioned an assessment of the full range of legislative, policy and administrative measures that would be necessary for Ireland to participate in the ATS. A report was prepared by Dr. Richard Collins of UCD and delivered to the Department on 12 April 2022. This report provided an overview of the obligations of the ATS, which consists of several different international legal instruments including the 1959 Antarctic Treaty; the 1980 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals: and the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection 1991. Each of these has a different focus and set of requirements on participating states. The report advised that it would be possible to sign up to the ATS with different degrees of commitment. These range from acceding only to the Antarctic Treaty and introducing minimal legislation related to this, to acceding to the treaty, the Madrid protocol and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and introducing a range of legislative and administrative tools to ensure compliance with each of these instruments. An interdepartmental group will determine what level of participation is appropriate for Ireland in terms of the parts of the treaty we should accede to. It will also identify the structures and associated resource requirements necessary for such participation.

As the Senator knows, having served as a Minister of State previously, marine environmental matters were a core competence of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. For this reason, the Government approved the establishment of the interdepartmental group under the direction of that Department to agree next steps regarding Ireland's accession to the ATS. This marine environmental function subsequently transferred the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment on 1 August 2025 and has been delegated to the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley.

As the Senator will be aware, our current focus is on ensuring that threatened species, habitats, and ecosystem services in our own maritime area and the wider north east Atlantic region are protected. With this in mind, the priority has been the drafting of legislation to provide for marine protected areas, MPAs. Officials are currently in process of preparing the general scheme of a Bill to amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 to enable us to create more MPAs using the designated maritime area plan process. This work is at an advanced stage and it is intended to bring a general scheme to the Government for approval at the earliest opportunity. Work on the legislation to provide for MPAs complements our continued work on a national and transboundary basis under the marine strategy framework directive.

The Department will also proceed to identify the necessary legislative, administrative and policy measures needed to fully implement the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement. The Department is very much focused on progressing this.

I thank the Senator again for raising these important matters and for all of his previous work as Minister of State in the Department. Given the interconnected nature of the world's oceans in the context of marine environmental policy, we need to continue at a national level to ensure that we develop it as a national priority. It is also important in the context of climate change, ocean currents, migration of species and the broader ocean ecosystem that there be a national, regional and global approach. We must remain connected to other requirements and ensure they are done in a more managed and sustainable way. We have seen, most recently, that threats to the unique environment of Antarctic have a global impact. Participation in the ATS will complement existing work. We ratified the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement in September 2025, following Dáil approval. As I said earlier, we are prioritising work on the MPA legislation and the associated workaround identifying species, habitats and ecosystems. Once that work is sufficiently advanced, we will free up resources in other areas within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the ATS.