Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I commend Deputy Stanley on bringing it forward. His views on wind turbines are somewhat different from mine. I have listened with interest to the points made by Members and I have noted the references to the public consultation. If there is to be public consultation, one needs to get to the nub of the issue. Communities in parts of rural Ireland where there are wind turbines, for example, that are 100 m in height and 500 m or 600 m setback - Deputy Dooley said that a setback of 600 m is Fianna Fáil policy - are experiencing serious problems. People are not making things up. They do not complain for the sake of complaining, nor are they against things for the sake of being against them. Many of those people embrace different forms of energy. There can be problems even if there is 700 m setback. In countries where turbines are at a ratio of 10:1 there have been no problems. It was said at Government talks that suitable areas would be limited to approximately 5% of the country. Members and the country as a whole need to decide if we will put our people first or if we will listen to the EU ramming something at us under our so-called obligations. We should ensure that people in those areas do not have to live a life of hell. There are people who never objected to the establishment of wind farms but cannot now stay in their homes at night because of the noise. The experience of people living near Sliabh Bán wind farm is an example of that. That is the reality. It is not made-up stuff. Unfortunately, some elderly people had to leave their homes due to flooding. Part of that is currently being resolved. The three issues that Members need to decide on in regard to wind turbines are setback distance, flicker and noise.

Members have said that we need to move away from fossil fuels. They are entitled to their opinions. However, they have said that we are exporting the money out of the country. I point to the fact that most wind farms in Ireland have been bought up by foreign vulture funds and Japanese companies. How will that money stay in Ireland? This is a sickening thing that is happening. I read recently that 60% of a wind farm has been bought by a Japanese company. That money will not stay in Ireland. Members will be aware that Bord na Móna is going to America to produce a product that the person who grows it, the person who hauls it and the boat that brings it across the Atlantic will get more out of than anyone in Ireland. Where is the benefit in that for the Irish people? This issue is particularly relevant to people in the west of Ireland, with the resources there. Members need to ensure that if this is the road that is being taken, offshore wind energy is considered, as the Minister of State mentioned. That may be a way of going forward.

We need to be very straight with people on the proposed consultation. I have seen many documents go out to consultation, all of which came back. There is currently a proposal that a wind turbine cannot be closer than 500 m to a residence. However, if it is 120 m or 130 m high and just over 500 m from housing, residents will have problems. We can have all the consultation in the world but we must decide whether people in certain areas of the country are going to be tormented by wind turbines because the Legislature did not set a sufficient setback distance. When wind turbines are set back 1000 m, there do not appear to be any problems. That is the best guide by which one can go.

In a similar way to how if one works the land, one knows the land, if one is beside or a certain distance away from a wind turbine, one knows what is and is not a problem. That is very easy to assess throughout the country. The big problem is that many people will go through the consultation process but thereafter one must deal with the EU and our so-called obligations. If that means there must be a setback distance of 400 m, 500 m or 600 m, that is what Members will vote on in the House and if there is a majority, it will be passed. Unfortunately, that would lead to problems for people in certain areas. There has already been a court case in Ireland in relation to flicker from a wind turbine. People should not have to live a life of hell. They were there before the turbine was there. They might have worked the land for possibly the past 100 years and now because of turbines in the area, it has gone up. There are certain parts of this country in which there would be no problem achieving a 10:1 radius. I do not understand why the Government does not focus on that and ensure that, on one side, there is adherence to whatever agreements are made and, on the other, that rural communities can live in peace.

There are huge opportunities in renewable energy. I spoke to a person in Kildare in recent days who discussed biogas and the potential of silage. That may be of help to a farmer if the beef barons think they will keep him or her at bay with the price of cattle. If it works out and is efficient, that will be welcome. Members have discussed exporting electricity and so on. Based on what England has done, Ireland is not exporting very much power. An interconnector to bring power in from France has been proposed.

The public service obligation, PSO, levy has risen again this year for the ordinary people to subsidise something. Peat was subsidised but I do not agree with that. Every year the price is raised by the back door because we are dealing with things that cannot stand on their own and are not viable, for the sake of legislation to which we have signed up. Electricity will have to become much dearer to make viable some of the systems that are in place. We will then lose out on the manufacturing side because we will not be able to compete with countries such as Germany. There are some companies in the west of Ireland who were at the National Ploughing Championships yesterday which have had incredible success. We do not need to put barriers in their way.

Not every area is affected by this but everyone in the country is important no matter where they live, north, south, east or west. If one goes around the country there is no need to have a consultation period because it is there to be seen, problems of between 400 m and 800 m. If one is a kilometre away there is no problem with the 10:1 ratio if it is 100 m high. It is achievable if we want to go down that road. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider and support this Bill. Everyone can have their say on Committee Stage. We need to put people first and end the nightmare some people are having in certain parts of the country because something has been foisted upon them.

The Minister of State spoke about the councils but they have no say. He said if they are not in compliance with the Department's guidelines they cannot make a decision. Their hands are tied. It is up to the main parties and the rest of the Dáil to decide the distance back and I hope they go with Deputy Stanley's proposal.

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