Mary Moran (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan to the Seanad. I add my full support for this Bill. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this topic. I urge the Minister of State to listen to the valid points that have been raised by Members from all parties. It is imperative that we introduce restrictions on the siting of wind turbines so close to people's homes. I too, like my colleague Senator John Kelly, have been inundated with e-mails from all across the country on this issue, and specifically from the residents of my own area of Dundalk, where it is proposed to erect five huge wind turbines in Rockmarshall farm.

I must point out, everybody is biased about his or her part of the county, that the Cooley Peninsula and the area around Rockmarshall, where it is proposed to site these wind turbines, is one of the scenic parts of the country. As some of my colleagues have said, firms come along and decide to put in for planning permission but the scenery of the location must be taken into consideration.

The height of the proposed turbines for Rockmarshall farm is 390 ft., which is twice the size of Liberty Hall. Can anyone imagine living 500 m from a development of that height? Under the current legislation, the company would be able to build that close to a dwelling. I have been reliably informed that 120 families in the area would live within 500 m of the proposed development, the distance of the present guidelines. This would have an impact on the value of their houses and would have an effect on people.

I would not like to live that close to a wind farm and I do not think anybody else would. Anybody who has ever stood near a wind turbine will appreciate the noise that emanates from it and I know that just 800 m from the proposed turbines in Rockmarshall lives a family with two autistic children. Anybody who is familiar with autism will realise that sensitivity to noise is a major part of this condition. Such a development, as it stands, is hazardous and its proximity to houses impedes on peoples' human rights. The sheer force of the size of these turbines must be taken into account when planning these wind farms. There is no doubt we will live to regret it if something is not done, just as we regret the erection of ESB pylons and masts so close to residential properties in recent years and learned of the proven health hazard when it was too late. I welcome the argument put forward by Senator Whelan that the Bill be amended to include pylons.

I am not opposed to wind turbines offshore or onshore but we need to take into consideration the vicinity and the fact that they are located so close to people's homes. I appreciate their value as a sustainable energy source but if restrictions are not applied in respect of placing them, they will have a devastating effect not only on the countryside and scenery but on the value of homes.

We need to look at the environmental impact statements. I have seen a number of such statements put forward for some of these farms. There should be rigid compulsion to ensure they are of excellent quality. Sometimes they can be vague or blurred but they should be compelled to be of excellent quality and done to a true scale to show exactly how they will impact on the local area.

I commend the Bill the House.