Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of wind farms and the proposals to build them across rural Ireland. It has come to County Galway, where, right now, surrounding Tuam, there are four proposed wind farms. There are lots of issues with the wind farms. The turbines have become larger and higher. When the guidelines were introduced in 2006, the span of the blades was 50 m; now it is 186 m, and we still have the same distance from a house for the same type of turbine. Draft guidelines are in place but they do not have to be adhered to.

Second, let us take the places where they are being proposed, such as Belclare, in my area. It is right beside Knockmaa. A total of 120,000 to 130,000 people visit it every year and walk that hill and view the surrounding visual amenity that is there out onto Galway Bay. They will see these turbines facing them. In another place they are going into a bog, peatland. We cannot even cut the turf there, yet the proposal is to take out 14,000 cu. m of bog and put in 140 loads for every one turbine to set them up and to keep them structurally sound. There is something called the wake effect, which effectively means that wind comes back from the propellers. It is part of the whole system and it cools down the earth's surface such that grass will not be able to grow as well as it would normally for approximately 10 miles.

The other issue that is very worrying is that sulphur hexafluoride is being used in the turbines. The European Commission plans to ban that substance. It is so lethal that if it goes on fire, no fire brigade can go near it. If it spills out onto the ground, it will destroy the ground for thousands of years. It is a very small amount but all we need is one of the turbines to go on fire at any particular time. The EU recognises that this is a serious problem. It is bringing in new regulations that will commence sometime between 2026 and 2040 but in the meantime the turbines will keep using this gas.

The guidelines have been completely out of date since 2006. We have talked about new guidelines coming into being. The most significant issue, which the Tánaiste will recognise, is that communities are divided and up in arms as they are kept in the dark by the developers as to what is happening. This needs to be looked at. Can the Government not suspend the implementation of these wind farms until we get things right?

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