Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Two things came to mind as I watched the debate during the past two days. One was a sketch in a local play of a politician making a speech before an election. When he says he will open a creamery at the cross, there is tremendous applause and he follows it by saying he will open two creameries at the cross. The other was a "Hall's Pictorial Weekly" sketch about the installation of telephones by a former Minister, Albert Reynolds. Every time he said he would install 100,000 telephones there was an applause button instead of an audience applauding. The Government should have brought an applause machine into the Chamber to be played after every Minister's speech to add to the chaos of the past couple of days.

For many years Irish Aid has delivered huge projects around the globe. I have had a personal involvement through my late uncle, Denis Cronin, who was a Redemptorist missionary for 51 years in Brazil, where his order did tremendous work. We were involved in trying to get aid for the people in Uganda during the genocide in 1994.

I welcome the opportunity to review the performance of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the commitments made in the programme for Government and by the Minister in his speech. The Department has done continual battle with communities in disputes over pylons, turbines, post offices and broadband services. Communities feel as though it does not listen to them at all.

No one disagrees with the Government's goal to reinforce the national electricity grid to secure future energy supplies in Ireland. We all see this goal as important and necessary. Fianna Fáil is disappointed, however, at the lack of a fully independent review of the GridLink and Grid West projects, despite the 35,000 submissions received by EirGrid. While we welcomed the appointment of Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness and an expert panel to oversee the quality of the route options presented by EirGrid, we criticised the fact that EirGrid would be the body responsible for carrying out the studies of the possibility of fully undergrounding power lines for the GridLink and Grid West projects. We criticise the fact that the new committee initially did not propose to examine the health concerns surrounding the location of pylons or the other EirGrid projects in Ireland, in particular the North-South interconnector. Thankfully, the Minister seems to have seen the light in this regard. There should be a complete moratorium on, or cessation of, development until there is a proper, fully independent international review of this issue, taking into account every aspect of it, environmental, tourism and health, everything of concern to communities, including the value of their property, noise levels and so forth. Every international expert should contribute to a report in order that nobody will be able to say it was half-baked.

Communities across Ireland had to organise large protest campaigns and lobby groups in order to assert their right to be heard by EirGrid and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. As a result, there is now great suspicion surrounding any plan coming from either of these parties. The Minister must take some responsibility for the suspicion and fear which have engulfed communities in the affected areas. That a review is taking place shows how misguided was the original strategy for the EirGrid plan. We in Fianna Fáil recognised the difficulties arising in communities across the country when last November we tabled a Private Member's motion calling for an independent international assessment of the EirGrid proposals. Despite some support from the Government backbenches for the motion, the Whip prevailed and our proposal for an independent assessment was defeated. The Government then claimed that the new review was an independent assessment, although EirGrid was being asked to examine the routes it had already approved. This seems like a bizarre move which will certainly not put communities' minds at ease. The Minister has tried to kick this issue to touch in order that it does not interfere with the local election results of the two Government parties. Having visited many communities across the country, I can assure him and the Government that the fears and concerns of communities about this issue have not gone away.

Another issue causing great concern across Ireland is wind farm planning. The regulatory guidelines in this regard are far behind where they should be. Fianna Fáil firmly believes renewable energy is part of the solution to reduce Ireland's massive dependence on energy imports. The pursuit of renewable energy in Ireland offers the potential to shield it from ever rising oil and gas prices and help to reduce our CO2 emissions. It is vital, however, that renewable energy projects are developed in a manner that is sensitive to their environment and that they benefit local communities. The increasing number of planning applications for wind farms means that legislative guidelines must be introduced to protect local communities from dramatic intrusion on their properties and give certainty to planners. The construction of larger, technologically advanced wind farms must be conducted in line with international best practice. Fianna Fáil advocates the adoption of Danish style planning rules for these projects.

We are committed to the development of renewable energy projects in Ireland where proper planning guidelines are laid down in legislation. We see the development of renewable energy projects as a mechanism to reduce our dependence on energy imports, while also being a conduit for increasing prosperity in rural Ireland. We have proposed that there be a minimum distance of six times the height of a wind turbine between the turbine and any residential dwelling. This would ensure current regulations did not become outdated, as the size and scale of wind turbines increase overtime. This proposal would ensure residents and communities were protected from undue intrusion by wind farms. It would also provide clarity for future planners of wind farms as to where they had the potential to construct new turbines. I ask the Minister to consider this proposal.

Another innovative proposal which the Minister might consider is the introduction of community benefits from wind energy farms. Fianna Fáil believes communities should be given the option of benefiting from the presence of local wind energy resources. Communities should be offered the option to purchase a minimum of 20% of the proposed wind energy project in their area in order that they could share in the wealth the project would create. The developer would advertise locally shares equal to a minimum of 20% of the project value at cost price. Any citizen aged at least 18 years and living within eight times the height of a new turbine would be eligible and have priority entitlement to buy into the local project. The shareholder would share the profits, risk and costs on an equal footing with the developer.

Remaining shares not bought by citizens within the original radius would be offered to permanent residents in the rest of the county. This would provide a new wealth creation mechanism for rural Ireland and ensure wealth created in an area benefited that area. It is similar to an approach employed in Denmark and could easily be adopted here. This provision could provide the basis for a sustainable and prosperous rural Ireland.

Rural Ireland also needs a secure and high quality connection to broadband if we are to prevent a two tier economic recovery between urban and rural areas. I am glad that the Minister for Education and Skills in the Chamber because a number of primary schools still do not have access to broadband.

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