Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I wish the Leas-Chathaoirleach would give me another half an hour.

I spoke to representatives from other counties who stated that the situation varies from county to county. I will move from the issue of one-off housing but I am sorry to do so because I could write a thesis on it.

In his speech here on Second Stage the Minister referred to wind farms. I suggest to him that a big lacuna exists in this area. I support the concept of wind farms in principle and I have always held that wind energy is necessary. However, a very difficult situation arose in my area where the local authority granted planning permission to a wind farm but there were protests and shenanigans about the 15 km line to the grid. Eventually, the developer was forced to put the line underground. Some people state that is not economically viable.

My point is that I cannot understand why a local authority does not deal with the granting of planning permission for a wind farm at the same time as dealing with its connection to the national grid. It is a very obvious point as in places such as west Cork or Kerry the grid lines run one way or another. When the line from the wind farm in west Cork was being planned objections were made. When the local community came together and suggested putting the line away from houses and over mountain areas the local authority disagreed and routed it in such a way that in two instances the line came within 50 m of dwelling houses were youngsters lived. I am not sure how many kilovolts it carried but it was a large amount as there were 18 turbines on the farm. This type of planning annoys the public as it lacks common sense.

I am sorry I have been negative but I want to make the point that we have not got to the core of the issue on rural planning. Perhaps the day should come when rural planning should be vested, as it was at one time, with the executive of local authorities and councillors should be left out of it. It is a heartache and a headache and it has been a stressful issue for me over the years. I have not been a member of a local authority since 2003 but councillors tell me they still have the same headaches. This is not only in west Cork but across the board, including in Kerry, Galway and Clare.

If I could succeed on something today it would be to ask the Minister of State to address the fact that objections, An Taisce's involvement in rural planning and delays with An Bord Pleanála are very frustrating for people in rural Ireland and to trickle this down to local authorities. It is almost a question of turning off the lights in parts of west Cork and forgetting about them because they face Becher's Brook every which way they turn. It is also frustrating for planners and county managers and they should have something else to do rather than spending hours, days and weeks dealing with planning applications. It is like Lanigan's ball; I step in, you step out, we step in together and then fall out over it. It is a pure mess. I am being more than sincere and emotional about the issue.