Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise this question about wind farms because it is fair to say the Government put the cart before the horse in this matter. We did not have the cost-benefit analysis on the export projects, the new guidelines on planning and the Government's Green Paper on energy policy. I put down this question because of the widespread opposition to large, industrial-scale wind farms in the midlands in counties like Laois, Offaly, Westmeath in particular, and Kildare. I hope the Minister can give me some reassurance that the Government's decision not to oppose the Bill I brought forward in the Dáil some weeks ago, which would not stop the development of wind farms but would regulate them properly, was not simply a cynical ploy to get us by until after the local elections on 23 May.

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