Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)

The Minister is welcome to the House. I wish to preface my contribution by saying that I got this brief only six or seven months ago and it is an acquired knowledge at this stage. There are few jobs in wind energy. There is the job of bringing in the turbine and erecting it and then it only requires to be maintained once a year, which means that few jobs are created in the management and maintenance of wind turbines. The work is predominantly done by German and Danish companies. We have a terrible habit in this country of getting an idea and going for it bald-headed. We must look more broadly at alternative energy and consider combined heat and power plants which would burn timber and biomass as they would create much farm income. We must be careful that we do not put all our eggs in the wind basket because it will not produce the jobs we need.

REFIT 3 provided permission to be granted for wind farms around the country that will never be built because they are on special protection areas, SPAs, and special areas of conservation, SAC, there is no planning permission and the people involved do not own the land although they own the quota system for them. Those wind farms cannot be built. I do not understand how we will meet the targets to which we have committed. We should examine that issue given that we are a year in government and perhaps consider district heating and power plants. I can provide the Minister with information in that regard.

I am in favour of the general direction of the Bill. There is a growing fear in certain parts of the country that local communities will be imprisoned by their close proximity to large wind turbines and that the landscape will be blighted by miles and miles of wind turbines. That is the result of bad planning and the conditions that were set down when the Gate 3 process was laid down. Serious lessons must be learned. The Bill must set down standards that will recognise the rights of citizens. It is proposed to erect up to 47 turbines in the beautiful village of Doonbeg, some up to a height of up to 415 ft., only 500 m from some of the local houses. In Moneypoint, which is not too far from the village of Doonbeg, the ESB proposes to erect another seven turbines up to a height of 515 ft.

The Minister is aware that I have spoken in the House previously on the need for this country to move away from a 90% dependence on imported fossil fuels to produce our energy requirements and our need to move to renewables. With some of the best natural resources in the world, namely, wind - which we are using - wave, tidal, hydro and biomass forestry, we can reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. We now import approximately €6 billion worth of imported fossil fuels every year.

I fully support the Government policy outlined in the programme for Government:

We will ensure that future wind farms are built in locations where wind regime is best and that they are built in large numbers or in clusters to reduce the cost of connection to the grid under new plan led Gate 4 process as opposed to the existing developer led system.

Planning is key to how this is will be achieved. We have the wind resource and it should be harnessed but we must listen to what people on the ground have to say in areas where wind farms are planned. No one wants to wake up some morning to find that a construction crew has arrived in the next field to erect a large turbine. Local authorities such as Clare County Council can identify areas where the least amount of impact can be achieved on residents. That is already being done. The distances that are listed in the Private Members' Bill make sense but we must be careful about how this would affect our need to reduce the amount of overhead power cables erected. We cannot end up with a situation of single turbines being erected in the countryside miles apart from the next one and a sky line that has a lattice of power lines linking them up. That would not make economic sense and it would destroy the appearance of the countryside. Those who want to build wind farms must consider how they will compensate residents for any loss of value to their homes from the construction of a new wind farm in close proximity. We must ensure a high degree of fairness when these issues are being addressed.

We must bear in mind that this country has binding commitments with the EU on the amount of energy we must produce from renewables by 2020. Wind is only part of the mix. There is the potential for considerable job creation between the construction, maintenance and in certain locations the fabrication of wind turbines for the domestic and export market. C&F are currently constructing turbines. In its 2011 to 2050 wind energy roadmap report the SEAI estimates: "Wehave the potential to create 20,000 jobs in the installation operation and maintenance of onshore and offshore wind farms in Ireland by 2040." However, I question whether it is possible to deliver the number of jobs specified.

This generation is the guardian of the landscape and, as such, we must protect it but we must also develop it for future generations. That can be done if we consider the environment and come up with ways to have the least possible impact on it. New ways of generating power and heat should be a major element of this plan. Combined heat and power district plants, which use locally grown timber and biomass, are used worldwide. I firmly believe that local authorities should also be considering potential areas in close proximity to industrial estates where these plants would get the green light to go ahead. Currently, in the UK approximately 6 GW of power is generated by combined heat and power plants.

Mr. John Sauven, director of Greenpeace, stated:

Energy technologies like industrial-scale CHP beat nuclear and old-style coal plants on every front. They're cheaper, they're much quicker to construct, they'll cut more carbon emissions, they could halve gas imports and they won't leave behind an expensive radioactive legacy.

It makes sense that we should build clean power plants beside the end user, as this would reduce the need for miles of new power lines criss-crossing the country between existing stations. Areas that are zoned as industrial or commercial could be the sites of the new plants.

If there is one thing that this country can do, it is to grow things. Our temperate climate allows us to grow trees and biomass well. Land that is not suitable for grazing could be used to grow crops that could be converted into energy. Significant low-carbon biomass can supply a significant percentage of our renewable energy. We need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we produce annually.

Wind power has one major disadvantage - what happens when the wind is not blowing? One would need a pumped hydro facility - one can store electricity from such a facility, but not from a turbine - in close proximity when wind speeds are low. On the other hand, wood biomass power plants can operate 24 hours per day all year round and are not intrusive on the landscape if they are sited in close proximity to their customers.

I welcome the thrust of the Bill. It should form part of where we go from here in our drive to develop green energy.