John Kelly (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House again. The cost of doing business in this country, from an energy perspective, has been mentioned. I support the Western Development Commission's report, of which the Minister is aware. The report suggests that savings of €32 million could be achieved by businesses in the west and north west if natural gas were made more widely available in that region. I am aware that interested parties are trying to arrange a meeting with the Minister. I understand they were unable to attend on the two dates suggested by the Minister. I hope the meeting in question will happen soon so that progress can be made. When the debate on the roll-out of natural gas throughout the west of Ireland started a couple of years ago, a group was established in my home town of Ballaghaderreen. We did some research when we learned that Bord Gáis was thinking of delivering natural gas along a route through the bigger towns in the west. We found that even though Ballaghaderreen is not the biggest town in the western region, a co-operative in the town, Shannonside Milk Products, uses more electricity than the entire town of Castlebar. Bord Gáis has chosen to overlook this flabbergasting statistic. I look forward to the Minister's meeting with the group I have mentioned.

I would like to speak about the better energy and warmer homes schemes. I am a great supporter of the warmer homes scheme, which is fantastic. Those who avail of the scheme, including elderly people and those who receive the free fuel allowance, are absolutely delighted with it. They can see the difference it makes. Although I understand why cutbacks are needed, it is unfortunate that cutbacks in this area mean that from this year on, those who have had their attics insulated in the past will not get their walls insulated now. New applicants will get a full energy efficiency package, including attic insulation and wall insulation. I have suggested to officials from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland that 10% of those who had their attics insulated in 2009 could have their walls insulated this year. Perhaps we could catch up on the list by degrees. It is unfair that those whose attics were insulated in 2009 and 2010, in particular, might not get their walls insulated even though that might need to be done.

Senator Crown spoke about long-term energy policies and the ill effects of nuclear energy. I have campaigned for a long time on behalf of people who are in favour of wind energy but have a problem with the location of wind turbines near private residences. The Minister and I have discussed this previously. It has been proven that health risks are associated with turbines being located too close to people's residences. I am aware that the Wind Turbines (Minimum Distances from Residential Premises) Bill has reached Committee Stage in the House of Lords in the UK. When I mentioned the UK legislation to the Minister previously, I said I would propose a similar Bill in this House. I hope to forward the legislation in question to the Minister in the next few days. This issue must be addressed. It is unfair to impose wind turbines on people who do not want to have them erected close to their homes, even on land that does not belong to them. The only protection such people have is that the companies involved are supposed to communicate with local people. Unfortunately, rather than doing so, the first thing they do is earmark the land they need and do sweet deals with its owners. Once the owners have been sucked into the process, contracts are drawn up and everyone in the locality is told a wind farm will be constructed on the land in question. Only then will the company be willing to engage with local people. It may offer €25,000 per annum to build a fountain that will look good on the side of the road but that will not solve the problem. I look forward to the Minister's support on this matter.