CEO, Maritime Area Regulatory Authority

Biography

Laura Brien the Chief Executive of the Irish Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA). She has led MARA since its establishment in July 2023. MARA is the state agency with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Ireland’s maritime area, in particular implementation of a new streamlined consenting system to support development in the Irish maritime area. Laura has worked in the area of regulation across a number of industries, in Ireland and internationally. Prior to appointment as CEO of MARA, Laura was Chief Executive/Registrar of the Health Insurance Authority. She was previously a Director at the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) (2014-2020), where she held several roles covering responsibility for Energy Markets, Water, and Compliance. She was also senior economic advisor at ComReg, the Irish telecommunications regulator. Earlier in her career she worked advising utilities, governments and regulators in the energy sector in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She holds a Commerce degree and a Diploma in Corporate Governance from University College Dublin, Ireland and an M.Phil in Economics from Oxford University, UK.