Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree that wind energy will and must form part of our renewable energy framework. However, this has to be done in a proper and appropriate manner and local concerns must be addressed. The reason we are where we are now is that the previous Government, of which the Minister of State was a member and in which the Labour Party was involved, did not publish the guidelines. Having gone through the consultation process and received in excess of six submissions, the then Government could not reach agreement and that delayed publication further.

We are two years on and we are still awaiting new guidelines. What the Government has failed to address is the fact that any application submitted now is adjudicated under the 2006 guidelines, which are out of date. We need new guidelines in place as a matter of urgency which take account of the size and magnitude of proposals. A goodwill gesture would be to put in place a moratorium on future planning applications until such time as we have new guidelines on a statutory footing.

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