Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The litany of different people responsible for different aspects suggests to me that nobody is in charge of the overall plan regarding wind energy. This is the problem. My starting point is deep scepticism about industrial wind and the emphasis we are putting on it regarding reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which are not decreasing but increasing. We produce 22% of our electricity from wind and 80% of our renewable electricity is due to come from wind. Wind energy producers are getting approximately 80% of public service obligation funding. That is a lot of money, put up by the public. The Minister can confirm the figures. Who is deciding where the money, which is being paid by ordinary people and which does not seem to be delivering results, is going? Where is the overall strategic environmental assessment of the wind energy plan? Where is the cost-benefit analysis as to whether industrial wind is the way to go?

I am deeply sceptical that it is the way to go. Many people say its net impact on reducing CO₂emissions is negligible and that we should be looking in different areas to develop more efficient forms of renewable energy that are better for the environment as well as looking at public transport, insulation, etc.

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