David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a given that we must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and increase the use of renewable and low-carbon energy sources, such as wind and solar, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree. The need for solar farms across Ireland is growing. I refer to the best practice planning guidance report on large-scale solar energy development in Ireland produced with the Irish Solar Energy Association by Fehily Timoney in November last. It is very good document. If the Minister of State has not come across it, he might take a look at it. The report states:

The need for solar farms across Ireland is growing, and a progressive and transparent planning process is fundamental in ensuring that ambitious national energy targets pertaining to renewable energies are met. The development of coherent national, regional and local policies around solar farms is a key prerequisite for growth within the renewable energy sector in Ireland. The absence of such direct policies is a concern and will further induce miscommunication and stunt the progression of such applications within the planning system.

Where there is a gap, a lack of information, a lack of policy and a lack of guidelines, we will run into problems. We have seen this previously with wind energy, which became almost a no-go area. The construction of large-scale solar farms is a relatively new development in rural Ireland. More and more rural communities are discovering that the green productive fields in their areas are being earmarked for solar farm development. The deployment of thousands of solar panels changes the visual aspect of the countryside and it can have other effects, such as on wildlife, biodiversity, flooding risk and food production.

The best practice planning guidance report, prepared in conjunction with the Irish Solar Energy Association, is very good and addresses all of those points, but the State has not done so. It is not mandatory or obligatory for any company or developer to follow these guidelines even though they should. There is a risk that the public image of solar energy could be eroded by the public response to large-scale solar farms, which have sometimes been sited insensitively. I tabled a parliamentary question last week on the possible need for specific planning guidance and guidelines for solar farms. The response indicated that the matter is being kept under review and where the need for specific planning guidance for solar farms is identified, the Department would develop such guidelines. I would argue that the time has arrived. In my area, there are a number of applications for these large farms and people are very concerned about the absence of national guidelines. More and more such farms are being put in place, in some areas covering over 400 acres of land, which is a massive area of countryside. If we wait too long, it will be too late.

Another issue is the need for proper consultation and information for local residents, and this document outlines how that should be done. It states that local politicians should be consulted but that has not happened in my area. The amount of documentation that is submitted as part of a planning application is daunting for ordinary working families to digest if they want to formulate an objection or observation, and they may need assistance with that. I ask that the guidelines include a provision for a community fund to compensate local communities to some extent for the disruption caused by the construction of large solar farms and for the impact of the change in the visual aspect of the area.

This is a serious matter. If we do not take it seriously, move on it and put in place national guidelines, I am afraid that we will run into the same problems that the wind turbine industry ran into, not to mention the issues with regard to putting up pylons to upgrade the grid. We ran into the same problems there because we left a vacuum of information and we did not engage with people. I ask the Minister of State to go back and tell the Department of housing that we need to get this in place. Each local authority has its own set of guidelines but it is ad hoc and there is no national overview. This is happening as we speak. More and more of these farms are being constructed and more and more communities are becoming concerned and are protesting, and we do not want to see that.

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