James Bannon (Fine Gael)

—— the fast-tracking of wind farm construction to help Ireland increase its electricity generation. The wind farm is often referred to as the oil well in the sky. It is clean, generally acceptable to the public and we should make more use of it. It is vital that we increase our output of electricity from renewable resources. Wind power is part of that and Fine Gael is committed to promoting its use.

We first flagged the issue a number or years ago, but it did not catch on until recently. It is important that electricity is generated in Ireland from renewable resources in the next 20 years. Diesel and petrol prices have risen by 20 or 30 cent per litre in the past two weeks so we should tap into new sources of energy.

The Minister will have to come back to this issue. The figure cited is very high and only big business will get involved in it. We would get more communities involved if the figure was reduced.