Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am certainly on the same page as the Deputy as regards exploring all potential alternatives. A reliance on one source, especially onshore wind energy, as a single solution for sustainability is not the way forward. I recently met a company looking to invest in Donegal in tidal energy, which was fostering the community approach in order to get community buy-in from day one. In the Deputy's original question, he mentioned Donegal and the midlands. I do not need to speak on behalf of the companies. They know that mistakes were made in terms of pre-announcements. For example, in the midlands, companies were saying they would build 10,000 wind turbines, which put the community's back up straight away. There was no exploration of or conversation around community dividend or what the benefits to the local community would be.

Deputy Pringle and I know that wind farms contribute about €1.8 million per year to the rate base of Donegal County Council, but that does not mean we should continue to plough ahead in building more wind turbines that will affect and upset communities. We have to be very careful and strategic. That is why I am delighted there is going to be a strategic look at this. There will be a consultation coming up shortly and there will be a more critical appraisal of how we meet community needs as well as the need for industry.

We have to look offshore. Industry people say that it may be too expensive off the west coast of Ireland, but we have to look at the west coast and the east coast as well. There were company developments in respect of the Irish Sea, and negotiations were taking place on a bilateral basis between the UK and Ireland. That is parked up until about 2018 or 2020, but there are still opportunities for offshore energy. I will be encouraging the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy White, to include biomass as part of the mix in the context of the negotiations and consultations on energy.

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