Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am strongly in favour of this country developing our renewable energy resources. It is vital that we meet, if not exceed, the target of 40% renewables production by 2020 in the context of the climate change crisis and the economic benefits arising from the development of indigenous energy sources. My concern, however, is whether the citizens of the State will reap the benefits of implementing that policy. We have heard about the proposed Dublin Array project which will see the construction of the second largest wind farm in the world 10 km off the Dublin coast and the controversial plans to install more than 1,000 wind turbines in the midlands to generate electricity not for this country but for the British grid. These proposals raise serious questions as to whether the regime we have in place will ensure the people will benefit from the development of our abundant wind resources. What tax regime will apply to these developments? Why is the ESB, for instance, not involved in the development of resources such as the Kish Bank? Have we examined international best practice in terms of proximity to the coastline where, for example, buffer zones of 22 km are observed by a number of the leading wind energy producers in Europe? What is the position in regard to royalty regimes? I am concerned that public consultation is not up to scratch. Some of us are of the view that there has been a giveaway of oil and gas, with no proper regime in place for the development of these resources. Will the Minister assure us that our wind resources will not be given away but will instead be developed to the benefit of the citizens of the State?

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