Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State put his finger on it with regard to public consultation. Some of these projects can be very controversial and it is really important to bring people with them and show them the benefit of the project not only to us all but also to local communities.

In the context of the two projects I mentioned to the Minister of State, I know from speaking to people in Dún Laoghaire that there are two major concerns. One is the loss of visual amenity. As you look out across places like Dalkey Island that have remained unchanged nearly since Viking times, there is a loss of visual amenity. I acknowledge that but in weighing the two up, the balance of correctness, if I could put it that way, lies in building the wind farms.

The other concerns people talk about are environmental impacts, particularly on the sea bed, with regard to plankton farms and sites for the growing of important micro-organisms within the sea. My understanding is the experience from Scotland and the North Sea is that these wind farms create small biospheres where, in fact, the biodiversity increases. Can we help communicate to people that while there may be downsides, the upsides grossly outweigh them in all of these projects?

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