Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Griffin and his team for attending. I was interested in the dialogue between him and Deputy Deasy about the issue of wind turbines. Am I correct that, in terms of land-based wind turbines, we are in an almost impossible position? The general thrust of the conversation between both of them related to noise but there is a connection also between noise and distance. I appreciate noise levels do not entirely depend on setback distance. There is an ongoing significant debate about whether the setback distance should be 0.5 km or up to 1 km. If 1 km is taken as the standard distance between a house and a wind turbine, a turbine could be not erected anywhere in the country. Has Mr. Griffin thought about how to get around that? Will people have to be resettled? Has the Department plans to get around that problem?