Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille seo. Nuair a chuala mé aréir go raibh an Rialtas ag tabhairt tacaíochta don Bhille, bhí mé an-sásta, ach tar éis a bheith ag éisteacht leis an méid a bhí le rá ag cuid de chomhghleacaithe an Aire Stáit as Páirtí Fhine Gael, tá sé iontach soiléir nach bhfuil an páirtí sin ag tabhairt tacaíochta don Bhille, ach go bhfuil sé ag tabhairt tacaíochta dó anocht sa dóigh agus go mbeidh a gcomhairleoirí contae ar an talamh, atá faoi bhrú mór ag bailte áitiúla agus ag grúpaí áitiúla glacadh leis na treoirlínte seo. Ach tá sé iontach soiléir nach bhfuil an Rialtas i ndáiríre faoin reachtaíocht seo agus go suífidh an reachtaíocht fada go leor gan dul go dtí an chéad chéim eile, Céim an Choiste.

I welcome this legislation, as much work by the office of Deputies Colreavy and Stanley has gone into it, and I also acknowledge Councillor Matt Carthy in the Gallery, who was involved in the submission to the Department and had some of the input to the legislation. There has been much work done and if people took the time to read the legislation, they would see there was extensive consultation along the midlands in particular. Nevertheless, it was not exclusively in the midlands as the issue of wind farm development is not a preserve of the area, although the proposals there are frightening to say the least. The issue has impacted in a negative sense in my county, although there has been a positive impact in some sense as we need to have renewable energy. I welcome the development of wind farms in tandem with local needs but there are cases where local communities, activists and ordinary people have had to come together and become experts in how to take on the major farm developers, going as far as An Bord Pleanála oral hearings, with all the associated costs.

Those of us in this House, and particularly this and previous Governments, have failed to deal with the issue in a proper and robust manner, which is why Sinn Féin has brought forward this legislation. It removes the issue from the sphere of guidelines and places it into legislation, as Deputy McLellan noted. It is alarming, given the salary earned by Deputies and the resources all of us enjoy in terms of support staff, that a certain Deputy can come to this Chamber and peddle the mistruths we have heard from Fine Gael backbenches, both from an economic policy perspective and with regard to wind energy. Last night the Minister of State in her contribution stated that she appreciates the view of Members who advocate for a legislative approach, which has merit, yet Deputy Mulherin believes there is no merit whatever in the legislative approach.

This legislation makes sense and covers a wide range of areas, including excess energy, and nobody could argue that we should export energy before our own needs are met. We seek to empower local authorities and councillors in determining where wind farms are best placed - or particularly where they should not be placed - in their county. This should not be circumvented by the critical infrastructure Bill or decisions by An Bord Pleanála. Nobody in this House could object to proper public consultation, with the public being informed of the potential impact of construction stages and wind farm operations. Nobody would have an issue with the World Health Organisations guidelines being implemented with respect to minimum noise or the removal of flicker, as it has an affect on people with autism and epilepsy.

I do not wish to focus on Deputy Mulherin but I would love to see the mountain she is talking about where a wind farm is blocked despite being only 500 m. away. It must be a very thin mountain. Perhaps she will invite me to Mayo to see these unique mountains, as they could be one of the wonders of the world. This is a very measured proposal based on international best practice, as the height of a turbine would be used in measuring set back distance. This is not a blunt instrument but a well thought out measure. The legislation also deals with destruction that comes about when the construction and maintenance of these farms is ongoing. Local roads are destroyed, and we know that because of the cuts implemented by the Government, local authorities are starved of funding to deal with the problem. They cannot fix the potholes or the craters in local roads leading to wind farm developments that are also used by people in the community.

This is very sensible legislation and I hope the Government will have courage in its conviction and not just support this in theory to save the blushes of elected councillors and candidates across the State who are facing pressure from communities who know this legislation makes sense. The Government should do the right thing and allow this to go as soon as possible to Committee Stage. Let us tease out this issue properly and bring forward a legislative basis to ensure wind farms can be developed while protecting vulnerable people, local infrastructure and the communities.

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