To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of the (i) resources; and (ii) finances required to enforce laws designed to protect Northern Ireland’s blue carbon habitats.

My Department is in the early stages of developing the blue carbon action plan for Northern Ireland. The action plan will be co-developed with stakeholders and concurrently my Department will be developing the business case for additional resources and finances that are required to implement the action plan. It is therefore too early in the process to make an assessment of the resources and finances that will be required for enforcement purposes.