Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am interested in knowing what he understands "as quickly as possible" to mean. He will appreciate that there is considerable interest in these guidelines and many people are waiting on them. Over recent weeks, the Joint Committee on Climate Action heard from the planning regulator, who said that the guidelines were needed urgently, and Wind Energy Ireland, which is eager to see them. The Minister of State will know from Longford and Westmeath that many local authorities have been dealing with applications for years. The planning regulator raised this as an issue. We need to see the new guidelines because the technology has moved on so significantly that the current guidelines are outdated, creating a planning vacuum that is ripe for confrontation between communities and developers.

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