Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that although those financial matters have not yet been addressed, companies are still negotiating the lease or purchase of land in the area we are discussing. The Minister spoke about planning guidelines, and there was recently a Seanad debate on the need for statutory regulations regarding distance of turbines from occupied homes. This ranges from 500 m for those turbines under 50 m in height to 2,000 m for those turbines over 150 m in height. Should there be an effective ceiling on the height of turbines, and will the Minister consider introducing regulation rather than guidelines in this respect? There are examples of breaches of guidelines quite recently.

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