James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending and I apologise for not being here for his presentation. As most people in the midlands know, we have all attended a large number of public meetings on this topical issue and they have been highly emotional with the halls and venues packed to capacity. I agree that public concerns must be taken on board. We have not got the factual information sought regarding the health and safety issues that have been raised at those meetings. I refer to the health risks associated with living near high voltage power lines, the health effects of shadow flicker and other problems such as sleep disturbance that were raised at those meetings. We have not been given concrete information on what is factual and what is incorrect in that regard.

Another issue is the fact that we are still working on the basis of the 2004 planning guidelines when the turbines proposed at that time were of the scale of the industrial turbines being proposed now. My colleague and the Minister's good friend, Deputy Penrose, has a Private Members' Bill in waiting for quite a long time, the gist of which proposes that no turbines greater than 25 m should be allowed within 2 km or a public building or a dwelling house. What is the Minister's stance on that or does he envisage that Bill will come before the Dáil and, if it does, would he support it, or what is his view on it? On a related issue, can the Minister confirm whether EirGrid has postponed the North-South interconnector planning application pending the outcome of the independent review?

A further issue that is constantly raised at meetings on wind farm developments throughout the country is that the chairman of EirGrid stated in December 2013 that he would not like to live beside a pylon. What is the Minister's view on that? That issue was never adequately addressed and it is still a problem. When the chairman of that body was not happy with that type of proposal, where do we stand on it?

Like Deputy Corcoran Kennedy and others who spoke, I am concerned also about the failure of companies to adequately inform communities about their long-term plans. That is a serious problem. As a politician one is fighting a losing battle when one attends one of these meetings because the people who turn up are totally opposed to any form of alternative energy projects.

Another issue that is raised at those meetings is the massive landslide in Derrybrien in Galway in 2003 which caused a great deal of pollution, as a consequence of which 100,000 trout were destroyed in the nearby river. Neither the company that was developing that project nor the ESB took responsibility. They talked about when something would happen such as when the foundations would be put in for the wind turbines. If we move on to a new form of energy, nobody will take responsibility for the removal of the huge amount of mass concrete that is laid to support those wind turbines and they will be ugly monstrosities across the landscape. Nothing is permanent except change and perhaps the form of energy that is in use today will be an old form of energy tomorrow. The Minister might elaborate on some of those points.