Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is absolute lunacy. We hear member talking about over-riding the concerns of local communities for some projects, with all of the talk of environmentalism and climate action, with so much lecturing taking place, and yet we have this resource which is a win-win for everybody concerned. This is in terms of the national interest where it is asked how much better off we would be in the here and now if we were generating substantial amounts of electricity through solar energy with an income stream for farmers and the knock-on benefits of that for local communities. This also the case in respect of the overall climate targets, and yet we are here talking about petty blocks that are having a very big impact.

Dr. Upton mentioned in his opening statement the positive developments around planning. He said there were continuing anomalies and cited the issue of the targeted agriculture modernisation schemes, TAMS, which I will touch on later. Was he referring to other anomalies that we have perhaps not touched on here yet today?