Marie Moloney (Labour)

I am not opposed to wind turbines and the masts but I am opposed to their location. They are being located too near to people's houses.

The Minister of State will be aware of the precautionary principle which was introduced in Europe to protect people's health but it is never applied. Every time a person appeals against the erection of masts under the precautionary principle, it is never applied. I cannot stand here and claim mobile telephone and broadband masts cause cancer. Equally, I cannot claim they do not cause cancer and neither can any other Member. We should apply the precautionary principle and take the time to investigate planning applications for wind turbines fully. As Senator Daly said, in Kerry we adapted what is known as the 1 km rule into the county development plan. Accordingly, every planning application for a mobile telephone or broadband mast that was within 1 km of a residence was turned down by the county council. Subsequently, these applications went to An Bord Pleanála which overturned every refusal and granted planning permission to the operators.

We need to protect people's homes and health. In a scenic area, An Taisce will protect the environment and its amenities. Who will protect the people? We are elected by the people to present their views here. Their view is they do not want these wind turbines next to their houses. I cannot blame them. Members have outlined various concerns already such as Senator Moran who explained how wind turbines can affect autistic children. I believe the precautionary principle should always be applied. In one area in Kerry a wind farm interfered with the television reception of a local resident. I presume this problem was sorted but how do we know?

County development plans dictate where wind farms can be set up. One only has to check any county development plan to find they already have designated areas for wind farms without the locals getting a say in it. It is at local level at which we must determine whether the land is suitable for wind farms. Once land is designated in the county development plan for a wind farm, an operator can set one up with the people having no say in the matter. It is just imposed on people.

I recommend the Bill to the House. I must apologise because I should have said when I started that I was sharing time with Senator Higgins.