Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome that the Government has set ambitious targets for electricity generation from wind sources. We are in a privileged position in terms of the huge potential for wind, wave and tidal energy off our west coast.

As the Minister will be aware, Scotland is one the leaders in terms of wind energy. It has set itself the target of not alone achieving total electricity generation from wind before the end of this decade but of becoming a net exporter of electricity generated from wind. Does the Minister believe the targets set by Scotland, which apparently will be achieved, are achievable here and, if so, what would we need to do to promote this?

The Minister will also be aware of the difficulties in terms of planning that have arisen in regard to the location of wind turbines to homes. Sinn Féin was happy to support the Wind Turbines Bill 2012 introduced in the Seanad by Senator Kelly. It is hoped that Bill will soon come before this House and will be passed here. Would it be better to have bigger but fewer wind farms? There are only seven wind farms in Scotland, all of which are located further than 2 km from any home. Would it be better for us to go the route of having bigger but fewer wind farms, all located an acceptable distance from homes?

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