Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It will be a condition of the renewable electricity support scheme. Any project developer looking for funding under the new renewable electricity scheme has to comply with the new community engagement and community dividend conditions. The renewable electricity support scheme is out for public consultation at the moment and the closing date is also next month. Communities are very much to the fore in this process. We have spoken to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, about giving priority access to the grid for community-led projects. It is within the commission's competence, not mine, but I have expressed the views of members of the joint committee. The commission is accountable to the committee, and not to me as Minister, so I suggest the committee invite the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to come before the committee to make their point. I have expressed my views and they are built in to the renewable electricity support scheme, as they are built into the proposals that come out in the new scheme when it is adopted early in the new year.

Sustainable energy communities are all about developing capacity in communities across the country to put forward their own proposals or to engage with the promoters of such proposals, of which there are 120 across the country. I addressed them in Longford earlier this year and they are an integral part of driving the agenda. New wind energy regulations are out for public consultation at the moment.

Deputy Bríd Smith also asked about the Private Members' Bill that was proposed last week. I am opposed to that approach for a number of reasons. Setback refers to the nearest single turbine and not a wind farm so it is the same whether one turbine is being built or 50 are being built. I do not think that is right. A wind farm of 50 turbines will have a far bigger impact on a community than a single turbine and this is why the approach we are taking is one based on noise. I look forward to Deputy Smith's input into the consultation. The noise criterion takes into account not just the proposed wind farm but all the existing wind farms whereas the Sinn Féin legislation cannot do so. The system we are proposing is far more robust. We have taken the World Health Organization standards for night-time noise, which are lower than for daytime noise, and are applying them on a 24-hour basis. We will put the regulations in place and will give the Environmental Protection Agency the resources and teeth to ensure that if a new wind farm breaches the new standards it will be shut down until it complies with them. I am looking forward to the input of the public in the consultation. By using noise as the primary factor, we deal with wind farms and not just a single turbine as happens with the setback approach.

I have written to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to say we need guidelines to assist local authorities in respect of solar farms. One of the first actions I took as Minister was to sign an international agreement with seven other EU and EEA member states on the North Sea's ocean energy technology development, allowing us to share capacity research across the Irish Sea and the North Sea. We are one of the global leaders in research in this area, with the MaREI centre developed in conjunction with Science Foundation Ireland, and a number of international investors have been in contact with the Department in recent weeks on the subject of the deployment of ocean energy renewables here. I want to broaden the renewable energy suite and not just look at one area.

A microgeneration meeting is taking place on 17 October where we will look at how we can best support microgeneration deployment, whether for roof-top solar or communities generating their own renewable energy. The SEAI and the Department are leading this.

I reject that we have not brought communities to the fore on this. What I have done in the past 16 months can be seen in the material published on the Department's website. As Deputy Smith said, there is a long way to go on this issue. I accept that communities were not the focus in the past. I ask people to judge me on my record and on the documents currently out for consultation . The impact in that regard will be evident in the coming months.