Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I stand here today to defend the landscape and future of Galway East. We all understand the necessity of the energy transition and we know we must move forward with renewables but what is happening in my constituency right now is not a transition but an invasion. It is an unregulated chaotic industrialisation of the Irish countryside on a scale that is terrifying. A perfect storm of development is gathering over our communities. We are facing proposals for 27 separate wind farms in north Galway. We are looking at a solar farm spanning almost 1,000 acres on fine arable land. In Athenry, we have a proposal for the Cashla peaker plant. In Portumna, we are staring down the barrel of a gas plant with a stack height the size of Croke Park, a fossil fuel giant dropped into the heart of a rural community. If all these projects get the green light, our county will be unrecognisable. We will no longer be a place of villages, farms and families; we will be an industrial energy park for the national grid.

We are still judging wind farm applications based on guidelines from 2006, which were written when the turbines were half the height they are today. That is an abject failure of policy. Furthermore, we have no specific planning guidelines for solar farms. This is coming across to the public as if it is a free-for-all.

My questions are simple and I need the best answers possible. I need to know when my constituents can expect the wind energy guidelines to be finally updated to reflect the modern reality. I am talking about setback distances. I am talking about noise management. I am talking about reassuring communities that wind energy can be done in a responsible and plan-led way. Does the Government plan to introduce robust solar energy guidelines to stop what is currently haphazard sprawl?

We want to do our bit, but we in Galway East cannot be sacrificed for the betterment of the national grid.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Dolan for raising this issue. Obviously, the big challenge facing this country is energy sustainability and security into the future. That is a significant challenge. We are importing about 80% of our fossil fuels from the United Kingdom essentially through the gas interconnectors. We have developed a very strong onshore wind performance nationally, which is to our credit. It is at about 48%, but that has created challenges and the technology has advanced. The Deputy is correct that the turbines are much higher. There has been quite considerable pressure for the updated guidelines, which go back to 2006. The Minister will announce a national planning statement, which will take all of this on board, particularly in terms of wind energy guidelines. It will look at all those issues such as setback distance, noise, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections, because the grid connection is equally important, and a greater consistency of approach to planning for wind energy development and clarity to the industry and to local communities in particular. The technical context changes and technology has advanced hugely. The finalised national planning statement will be informed by the most up-to-date analysis and take account of international best practice. That will then have to go for strategic environmental assessment and public consultation where the public and all interested parties can make observations.

Solar is growing very fast but there was a very low level of coverage on solar around the country. There is an issue, and I have asked the Minister to bring in guidelines in respect of solar in rural Ireland, particularly in terms of a tiered approach where there is excellent agricultural land, and to weigh it up because for the future of the country, food security and food production are equally important. The farming community has different views on that, by the way. People want to retain their right to sell their land, so it is not simple. It is an issue that needs further development. Solar is a growing source. About 2.1 GW of solar power capacity is currently installed. We want more solar, but I take the Deputy's point that it has to be done on a planned basis. That is fair. In some areas where it is happening, people are beginning to very quickly see a transformative alteration in the landscape that they have been used to for 100-odd years, or for their entire lifetime. There is a land use review that has been under way for quite some time around the optimal land use options for the country more generally. That will look at key demands, both public and private, in terms of land also.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that it will go to public consultation and guidelines will be forthcoming, but the fear for people at the moment is the speed at which we are moving to see this enacted. While we in the Dáil and Government Departments are dealing with this, there is a delay that is allowing for more of these applications to come forward. Five or six of them are live in Galway East right now for wind farms, and there are proposals coming forward for solar also. Consideration definitely needs to be given to the appropriateness of different sections of land for solar. We have multiple proposed developments at the moment. Solar was not really viable in this county and it is only become viable in the last two or three years because of the decrease in the price of panels. Solar is going to play a bigger role. The fear is that our landscapes will be unrecognisable because it is too late to react to the planning applications that are in today. We need to move at speed in dealing with the proliferation of energy projects in Galway East.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I take the Deputy's point. By the way, Galway East is a strategic region of growth for the Government. We are putting a lot of money into towns like Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Athenry, Gort and Portumna. They are being strengthened as a result of residential, commercial and service centres. We want to create more investment flow into east Galway, more economic opportunities, better regional balance and so on. There is big stuff happening in terms of infrastructure, such as national regional road networks, Irish Water investment and the national broadband plan. As a strong advocate for increased rail improvements, the Deputy knows that money will be allocated to rail for east Galway and the whole corridor there. Housing targets have to be developed. All that will need energy, so we have to weigh it up in the balance. I do not disagree with the Deputy's basic call for guideline frameworks to be in place. I was in Eli Lilly some years ago and I opened a solar farm. It had a dairy farm around it. That solar farm now provides 25% of the energy for the Eli Lilly plant.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The time is up.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Pepsi did a rooftop one, which provides 25% of Pepsi Cola manufacturing plant's energy. There is a role for solar, but nobody can argue with the need for planning guidelines.