Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I agree with the broad points made by the Deputy. Projects in gate 3 were selected on a first-come-first-served basis. However, I do not believe this will be the key criterion in the context of what has been built and developed. I ask the Deputy to be publicly supportive of what is the key criterion, namely, the development of the grid that will be required to take on the power produced by these wind turbines. That development project will not be politically popular, it will prove to be contentious and many people will voice their concerns in respect of it. If Deputy Coveney's party is serious with regard to meeting some of the targets we have set, I ask that it be supportive of the key criterion to which I refer. If we fail to construct the grid that is required, no amount of gate systems will work. It will not be possible to proceed unless the grid is built out to connect to the wind generation projects in question.

The Deputy is correct that our approach in this regard must be strategic.

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