Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Canney for raising this issue today on behalf of his constituents. I passionately believe in renewable energy. I believe it is absolutely essential to get to where we need to get to in terms of our own energy independence.

We are living through a climate emergency. I know we share that view. The question the Deputy raised is about how we do it and how we try to bring communities with us as we address that.

Offshore wind in particular is our largest source of renewable electricity in Ireland. It accounted for almost 39% of all electricity generated last year. In many ways, this country is a world leader as regards the level of installed wind energy capacity per person as well as the integration of that into our grid. We need to do more when it comes to renewable energy. We have got to be quite honest about that. We need to do more when it comes to wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. We also need to do that in a way that brings communities with us. That is a point I take very seriously because climate is an extraordinary challenge that every single one of us faces in every community. It is not an issue that divides rural or urban Ireland, or young or old. It does not differentiate. The planet is on fire. We need to see the switch to renewables. We need to bring communities with us and inject a degree of common sense and reasonableness in how we go about that.

As the Deputy knows, the review of the 2006 wind energy development guidelines has been going on for a very long period. This tries to address a number of key aspects of the guidelines, including set-back distance, noise, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections. While the review has been ongoing for a very significant period, I am pleased to say that a lot of progress has now been made towards concluding the process. The Climate Action Plan 2024, which the Government considered today, sets out a timeline of the final quarter of this year for the publication of the revised wind guidelines. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage must now lead on delivering on that commitment, as I know it will. The changing and continuously evolving policy and technical context, including the new Planning and Development Bill 2023 I referenced, which is currently going through the Oireachtas, the revision of the national planning framework and the White Paper on the renewable electricity spatial policy framework, reinforce the need to ensure that the finalised guidelines, once issued, are fit for purpose. The point I am endeavouring to make is a lot has gone on since the review commenced.

The revised wind guidelines will provide guidance relating to the determination of wind farm planning applications and will have regard to current renewable energy and climate targets. It will also try to strike an appropriate balance with regard to the impact of wind energy development on local communities, which will address some of the issues the Deputy raised regarding noise annoyance and set-back distance. As part of the review process and in line with EU directive requirements, a strategic environmental assessment of the draft wind guidelines is also being carried out. In the meantime, the 2006 wind guidelines are the guidelines. They are the ones in force, but we expect to have new guidelines in place by the end of the year.

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