Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives from the Electricity Association of Ireland for their attendance. The obvious question pertains to their position in respect of targets. Essentially, they advocate not going beyond the 2020 targets. The witnesses should explain this position because from the perspective of having certainty for investment in the energy industry, I would have thought it would be better to have targets set out clearly beyond 2020. In particular, 2030 targets and 2050 targets would give investment funds and the industry some certainty in this regard. There will be a great reliance on wind energy in this State when trying to meet the 40% target for renewables. Unfortunately, there has been a major shift in public opinion away from wind energy, particularly in the midlands, where I live. While the success of the climate change legislation will depend on meeting the targets set, because of certain developments, a shift has taken place among those who previously had supported renewable energy and who were major supporters of wind energy. Three issues are causing problems in this regard. The first is the ownership of the wind energy industry and the absence of local buy-in, with the exception of Bord na Móna, in which people have a sense of ownership. Bord na Móna is doing better in this regard than are others and probably will continue to do so because it has a longer history of working with local communities, particularly in the midlands, and is more sensitive about how to deal with such matters.

The second issue pertains to the electricity's destination. While we must meet the targets here, the electricity being produced from the giant turbines in my part of the world will bypass local houses and, consequently, will not help them to meet their targets in this regard and this is a huge issue. Personally, I have no problem with exports and believe the more we can export the better for the economy, obviously. However, the question remains in respect of both sustainability and fuel poverty in that electricity that has been generated cheaply will be bypassing thousands of homes that are suffering from fuel poverty.

The third issue pertains to the absence of regulations of any kind. I really consider it to be strange that there are no regulations. Basically, we have guidelines that would be fine were one living on a farm and seeking to erect a small turbine for one's own use or a structure that was less than 30 m or 40 m in height. However, these guidelines come nowhere close to catering for the type of turbines being planned that can be 500 ft. to 600 ft. in height. The Oireachtas is reviewing these guidelines at present and members have been informed that they will see their shape in the last quarter of this year. However, guidelines have not proved to be adequate in respect of other sections of the construction industry and I do not need to give anyone a lecture on what happened over the past ten to 15 years. One can see what happened there because of the absence of regulation. Do the witnesses agree we must deal with these three issues pertaining to renewable energy? If we are relying on wind energy to meet most of the mandatory 40% target for renewable energy, we must deal with those three issues. I reiterate my first point concerned the issue of the 2020 targets and the reason the witnesses and the industry are not pushing more strongly for the setting of targets for 2030 and 2050.