Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Doherty for sharing the debate. Like Irish Water, this is an important issue, which we need to get right. Renewable energy is one of the major issues being debated currently. There are questions over whether such energy is needed and whether the infrastructure needed to generate this energy is required. Companies are trying to push through applications because this debate is taking place and they are fearful. We are facing the prospect of the construction of 46 industrial sized turbines in a small residential community in which I live. These will be 169 m high, not 100 m. These are unlike any that have been constructed in Ireland previously and, therefore, this is an extremely sensitive issue for those living in the area.

There are two sides to the debate but the current guidelines, which were put in place by the previous Government a number of years ago, do not take into account the size of these turbines. I hope the new guidelines will and that is why I am calling for them to be issued as soon as possible. I made one of the 7,500 submissions to the Department earlier this year under the review of the guidelines. The Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, promised the draft guidelines would be published in the third quarter of this year. The review commenced almost ten months ago but we have not seen any guidelines. I assume the reason for that is the Department needs to get this right and, like the Irish Water debacle, this is not something that can be rushed. However, this is a ticking timebomb for many communities. I would like an assurance that the guidelines will be published as soon as possible and that the projects in the pipeline will be subject to the new guidelines when they come into play.

See this speech in context