Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Could I continue without interruption?

The fact is that we have to use wind as part of the solution. I am merely pointing out that the Government needs to line up a position. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cannot have one position at local level and a different position at national level. I circulated our position five years ago throughout our party, and we try to get a joined-up approach at local level.

I welcome the proposals from Fianna Fáil. We believe it should go further. We have produced research to show that there is sufficient land with a 1 km or 1.25 km setback in order to provide substantial wind farm developments.

We are not saying our Bill is 100% perfect. This is Second Stage of legislation into which we put a lot of effort, research and work, and it was legally proofed. We are not pretending we have all the answers and I would never be so arrogant as to say that. We spoke to environmental groups and people working in the industry, and we believe it is a good starting point. The House should allow the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage where amendments can be put forward. This is our opening shot, and I say that in a very constructive way.

I welcome that the Minister of State said the tendering process for the SEA is commencing tomorrow. That is good news. I do not know what triggered that for tomorrow. Perhaps it is a coincidence, given that we are debating this Bill today. I welcome it. We need to move on. Deputy O'Sullivan, who is a former Minister, said we started the process in 2013. I remember it. Commissioner Phil Hogan was here at the time. We are in 2017, with only a few months left to 2018, so let us move on. Wind farm developers are building in the meantime.

The Green Party put forward a case against the Bill, and I accept it is genuine in what it believes. It left out many other sources of energy, such as anaerobic digestion and hydropower. I know hydropower has its limitations. Deputy Ryan did not mention other sources of energy. We agree that, based on our information from the industry, offshore energy is getting cheaper and we should drive on that process with gusto.

We on this planet have not as yet sussed out a way of storing wind, which is a major problem. The greatest demand for energy is during periods such as the big freeze we had a number of years ago. There was significant demand on the grid, but there was no way of storing wind energy. The nights and days were calm and there was no wind, but there was heavy frost.

Many parties, including those in government, have referred to ownership. The Minister of State said it should be encouraged. We are saying that it can be offered, or it could be mandatory. If people wanted to take it up, they could do so. There is a fair amount of agreement on this area.

We had a discussion on setback distances. The Minister of State said research is being done on offshore energy, which needs to be accelerated. There is chaos in the wind farm industry, and we need to bring some order to it. The Bill proposes to put in place a planning and regulatory system to make sure we have orderly development and do not make the same mistakes as we have in other industries. We cannot just plough ahead.

I refer to the SEA process. It is good that tenders are proceeding.

The 4 km setback provision is not adequate, and I say that sincerely. We have shown that a lot of land is available. Our proposal is for 10 km and Fianna Fáil proposed a 6 km limit. We need to have a discussion.

Deputy Troy mentioned the community dividend. It is not good enough to allow major wind farm developers to sponsor a set of charities or local clubs. That is tokenism and is simply buying off communities. It is not real community participation. I referred to Templederry, with which I am sure the Minister is familiar. I am sure he will agree it is a shining example of community buy-in and ownership. We want real community participation.

I refer to climate action and what happened in Inishowen. I was in the area during a weekend and returned on Monday. On Tuesday morning, the heavens opened. I have been told that there has never been such serious flooding on the Inishowen peninsula. We have seen the damage done along the Shannon, something with which Deputy Dooley will be familiar given that he lives in a county which is on the banks of the Shannon, County Clare. There was significant flooding in the area. The same happened in County Roscommon, which is Deputy Fitzmaurice's county. There have been significant problems in my area of Laois-Offaly.

We have to deal with climate change. We have international obligations which Sinn Féin takes very seriously. I plead with the Minister of State and Government to move on in terms of developing renewable sources of energy. I mentioned anaerobic digestion. It would be an opportunity to solve a problem in the agricultural sector and create jobs and wealth. It would reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

We all need to understand that the future will involve multiple sources of electricity supply. Wind, with a big bang, is not going to do it. We can no longer rely on oil, something other countries have copped on to, and we have to bring into play very quickly a suite of options, including solar energy. It is an area on which we are very slow to pick up. We must move ahead with solar power and connect panels to the grid. We must start putting them on top of new schools and large cattle sheds which are being built. Some cattle sheds cover an acre with south facing sloped roofs. All of them should have solar panels. Let us move ahead and agree on that point.

I hope the Minister of State will have a change of heart and let the Bill go to Committee Stage where we can have a debate and discuss amendments to improve it.

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