Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but we and other countries still have targets to meet. Will Mr. D'Arcy clarify that point?

When it was put to Mr. Brian Motherway, CEO of the SEAI, today that between 25 MW and 28 MW would be generated from wind energy, he replied that we would never reach that target and that most of the projects would not go ahead. Bord na Móna is a semi-State company that uses taxpayers' money. Is it investing that money in projects that will never go ahead?

When Mr. D'Arcy's organisation made a presentation to us across the road in Buswell's Hotel a number of months ago, it told us that one of the reasons its project was sustainable, as opposed to those of its now strategic partner, Element Power, and Mainstream Renewable Power was that Bord na Móna did not need to lease land, worry about property devaluation, etc. because it had the Bog of Allen on which to install turbines. Now that it is linking with the other organisations, how will the taxpayer be satisfied that Bord na Móna's strategy has changed and how can it square the clear statement from the other companies in the field that they do not intend to run these projects in the long term but to flip and sell them? The companies' main investors are not from this country and have no community interest in sustainability which Bord na Móna claims it has. How can it propose this concept which will increase the cost of electricity and affect our economic well being and use taxpayers' money to do so?

Mr. Cowhig stated he would underground his network. Will he confirm that none of the Grid25 build which will cost the taxpayer €2.3 billion will carry any of Element Power's electricity? This is important from the taxpayer's point of view.

Can the idea of guaranteed prices be squared with the fact that American energy policy has been changed completely? America has moved towards fracking.

The inconceivable has happened. The Americans are now exporting coal to Poland. Apparently it is cheaper for them to do that than use the coal themselves. We are being asked to believe that the guarantee of price will continue into the next 50 years. Perhaps the witnesses would square that for me also.

I would like to see those who are part of the strategic alliance - namely, Bord na Móna, Element Power and Mainstream Renewable Power - provide us with a map of this country on which are marked all of the proposed wind farms and pylon networks, based on which the people of Ireland can then decide whether this is a sustainable community in which they want to live and raise their children. Element Power is saying one thing, Bord na Móna is saying another and Mainstream Renewable Power, representatives of which are not here today, are saying something different, yet the public are supposed to buy into all of this. As public representatives we are unable to answer questions on this matter because nobody has pulled all of the information together. Will the delegations undertake to provide us with a map on which are marked all of the proposed wind farms and pylon networks?