Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing me to raise this issue. I want to find out the reasons behind the decision of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to require local authorities to consider reduced or no planning development contributions in respect of wind turbines which are not supplying electricity to the national grid. Many people will be aware of the existence of many local windfarm projects throughout the country, which are contributing to Ireland meeting its targets in respect of renewable energy. They all went through the planning process and paid their development levies and rates. Many other windfarm projects currently in construction will go through he same process.

Why has the Minister of State or the Minister entered into a special arrangement in respect of two companies, and two companies only, requiring local authorities to exempt them from planning development financial contributions in respect of their wind turbines? This special arrangement is not available to any other company. The two companies to which I refer are Element Power and Mainstream. The Minister of State must be aware of the controversy in respect of these companies, each of which is planning the construction of 750 wind turbines in the midland region in Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Longford and Westmeath. Their turbines will be 186 m high, higher than anything else in the country. I am aware the Minister intends to produce new planning guidelines in terms of set-back distance but before we have the planning guidelines, he has already changed the rules financially for these two companies. The Minister issued guidelines to the local authorities entitled Development Contributions Guidelines for Planning Authorities in January 2013. That document states that "[P]lanning authorities are required to include the following in their development contribution schemes". It further states that "For example, authorities are encouraged to consider reduced or no charges in respect of renewable energy development which is not supplying electricity to the national grid". The Minister of State knows full well that this relates to only two companies in respect of which her party colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has already signed an outline agreement with the UK for the export of electricity, which will not be going to our national grid but to the UK national grid. Why has the Minister entered this special arrangement for two companies only?

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