Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 20 September 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Engagement with Ms Marie Donnelly

2:00 pm

Ms Marie Donnelly:

I will start with the Senator's German colleague who stated that it was his turbine. The Senator is correct that the issue of community involvement has historically been problematic in regard to onshore wind energy production. I hope that will be assuaged by the new renewable energy systems, RES, and requirements for community involvement. It may have been necessary to use a big stick to persuade people to do it but it is the right way forward. However, a very large proportion of investment in onshore wind farms in Ireland in recent years has been made by Irish companies. We have not attracted many German, Dutch or other companies to invest in wind farms in Ireland. The majority of wind farms are Irish-owned, so if there is a problem we should discuss the issues of dialogue and communication among ourselves because-----

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