Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the significant step change in the technology and development of wind farms throughout the country that is causing considerable anxiety and concern among communities. While we are supportive of the development of wind energy, what has happened recently has scared communities and caused large divisions in many areas for which major proposals are being prepared.

The size and extent of the new proposed wind farms are causing major anxiety in communities throughout the country. Whereas wind turbines were originally 50-60 m high, the current proposals are for wind turbines of up to 180 m in height. In the midlands, there are proposals to build up to 700 such turbines. In Ardglass between Lisgoold and Castlelyons in east County Cork, another major wind farm has been proposed, covering approximately 18,000 acres. In the Glenties, a recent application covering 475 hectares was turned down by An Bord Pleanála because of the scale of its impact on the locality.

Such large-scale wind farms are being developed in Ireland because of significant public opposition in Britain. Many of them are close to large clusters of housing. In east Cork, for example, more than 300 houses are in the midst of industrial wind turbines. To give people a sense of the scale, the proposed turbines would be twice the size of the Elysian. That is an enormous height, but people do not have a proper appreciation of what is being proposed.

There is a fundamental absence of transparency governing these developments. There is an absence of consultation with local residents and communities. Above all, there is an absence of a legislative framework to deal with the step change in technology and scale of development. Since the wind farms are being located close to residential areas, the health implications are causing concern to residents in terms of noise, shadow flicker, the destruction of amenities, particularly residential amenities, the negative visual impact, etc.

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