Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this serious issue. I agree on the need for additional capacity in the planning sense within local authorities and generally within the planning system. I was in the House yesterday and a question about solar panels and agricultural land was raised. People also want guidelines to restrict onshore wind. We need a general debate on how we plan this because renewables are the most sustainable way forward into the future. I will examine with the Minister the issue of guidelines on anaerobic digestion but we have to be careful it is not with a view to restricting it entirely and tying it up so that it will not be possible. It is an important technology that can yield important results in terms of our energy requirements. There is a need for more renewables, without question, but I am concerned we are increasingly facing obstacles to achieving that agenda.

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