Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Higgins that the debate has intensified and come close to us here. There is evidence before our eyes of a change in weather patterns and climate over the last years. It is true to say that we are burning €6 billion to €7 billion of imported fossil fuels and must discuss and decide on alternatives to that. I know the test site off Annagh Head in north Mayo and the prototypes which will be tested at a location in County Clare facing the open Atlantic. If they can stand up to that, so much the better. When the Deputy says wind farms are all about private profits, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has pointed out the inability to conclude a deal with Britain on sale and export of energy directly into the British market. That does not mean we are not intent on achieving our own targets here with wind turbines.

Oral hearings are taking place in Ballina now on the developments by Coillte and Bord na Móna on cutaway bogs for wind turbines for electricity generation. That is not-for-profit work in the local community in the sense of the scale of the areas involved. It remains to be seen in the context of the debate the Deputy mentions how the oral hearings will conclude and what the end result is. While I support the generation of renewable energy by wind both offshore and onshore, there is a legitimate argument for listening to diverse views. There must be an element of community gain in any of these things. Where a farmer has a wind turbine that drives his machinery and the electrical equipment on his farm, it is to be commended. Landowners have handed over site locations for turbines for electricity generation and are being compensated on an annual basis following a planning process which included oral hearings. There has been a gain from that process. The major turbine at Dundalk Institute of Technology is located in a well-populated area and makes a contribution to reducing the extent of the fossil fuel requirement to meet the energy needs of the complex.

I disagree with the Deputy that the explosion of property development in the country was about profit interests. It was stimulated in many cases by greed.

The rush to construct blocks and concrete in places where they never should have been was part of the veneer of so-called endless wealth in the tiger years. There were incorrect rezonings during that period. There are houses standing on flood plains and people who cannot insure their homes because of what has happened. It is a lesson Ireland learned to its cost.

It is not a question of calling an emergency meeting of the Cabinet committee on climate change. The committee does not have the authority to put a moratorium on development. There is an independent planning process, as the Deputy is well aware. These are matters which must be discussed in the context of Ireland's contribution to the overall European Union targets. The Cabinet committee will meet on the Monday after Easter week to consider some of these issues.

Agencies are not right about everything every time and there is a need to engage with communities. I recently attended the launch of the Community Futures programme in the west, a concept that came from Scotland. It involves everyone in a community or parish, be it urban or rural, being asked for their views, whether extreme or not, before an assessment is done of what is in the community's best interests. Community gain is a concept that has to be developed and pursued so that people are able to see the benefit of their acceptance of a particular type of development, whatever it might be. Such acceptance can be hard to achieve because it is often only over a period of time that the gain for the community and its people becomes obvious. That is not to say all the precise locations pinpointed by agencies are the right ones. That is why there must be an evaluation of what is in the best interests of communities. As I said, I do not propose to call an emergency meeting of the committee. It will meet on the first day after the Easter recess and we will discuss the issues at hand.

I am not sure what to make of the Deputy's analysis of the future of agriculture. He seems to be more or less saying we should keep the cattle on the land and go back to where we were. The Deputy is well aware of the credibility and integrity of the Irish agricultural production system and the €9 billion or €10 billion of high quality exports that are produced every year. There is no going back; it is forward all the way. The question is how to manage the challenge of feeding more people to the highest standard in the context of the challenge posed by the emissions produced by the agricultural sector. This is a particular issue for Ireland, as is recognised by Europe. I hope the discussions will centre in a reasonable and practical fashion on how we can achieve that balance between increased production of high quality food, which requires an increased agri herd, with the requirement to reduce emissions.

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