John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I extend a very warm welcome to Ms Marian Harkin. We go back a long way, almost nine years to the day, if my calculations are right, when we campaigned together, Ms Harkin for the European election and I for the council elections. Thankfully we were both successful and had a very enjoyable campaign if my memory serves me correctly.

I agree with all Ms Harkin's views on how interactions and relationships with the European Parliament can be improved. I agree with her on the future of the Seanad, however long the future of this House may be. It is interesting that there was a time when the European Parliament had to shoulder the same kind of criticism as the Seanad does now, when it was considered to be ineffective and a waste of money, and all of those ill-informed comments were frequently thrown around. Thankfully, with the strengthening of the European Parliament's powers via the Lisbon treaty, that has all changed.

I sincerely feel the outreach initiative is a fantastic way of ensuring productive lines of communication are maintained between the Oireachtas and the European Parliament. We in the Oireachtas, especially in the Upper House, can learn a lot from the procedural ongoings in Strasbourg and Brussels. There appears to be more of an emphasis on consensus in the European Parliament rather than confrontation, which seems to be the preferred way of doing business in this House. If the high amount of agreement which is reached in the European Parliament is to be applauded, the whip system which prevails in these Houses is strangling political progress. Surely we can learn from the European Parliament, which reaches 90% agreement, an extremely impressive statistic.

There is a need for more real connection between our Houses and the general public, and Ms Harkin alluded to this. Her Parliament aids this very capably through the petitions procedure whereby anyone can petition the European Parliament on a subject that comes before the EU sphere. There needs to be a stronger link between the committee system of both Houses of Parliament. The European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, of which Ms Harkin is a member, is the obvious one for connection in the current climate of unemployment.

Ms Harkin referred to the habitats directive. No common sense was brought into that debate that went on for 12 or 13 years. One very simple, common-sense measure that could have been done over the last couple of years was that consideration should have been given to the contractors who had invested serious money in machinery for their livelihoods. Consideration should have been given to the fact that these people were the guys who are now providing turf to their neighbours as part of the agreement with the Department. They should have been given alternative bogs to do this instead of handing the power over to Bord na Móna. I thought this was just a simple, common-sense thing that should be done.

I am concerned about the future of the wind energy strategy in this country. I have mentioned this to Ms Harkin in the past. I am concerned about the proposed number of wind farm developments across the country. Senator Barrett has followed me on this one. People's rights are being eroded as a result of the way the wind energy companies do their business, signing people up to contracts in the dark of night with confidentiality clauses. Unfortunately, all that happens is that we end up with divided communities. I brought a Bill before this House 14 months ago that was passed on Second Stage here about regulating the distances wind turbines should be from family homes. We are dealing with guidelines that are backdated to 2006 when wind turbines were 54 m high. Wind turbines that are going up today are 185 m high and we still have the same set-back distances. In Europe they are developing wind turbines that are 350 m high, which is absolutely staggering and extraordinary, and we are still dealing with set-back distances that were put in place in 2006.

Some recent developments have happened in Europe. There were European Court of Justice rulings and the Leth case. Because Ireland has not been compliant with a European directive, wind farms that were developed between 1999 and 2012 have not been compliant with this directive. As a result, the ruling states that people whose properties would be devalued as a result of it can sue the State. I got a consultant to examine the developments that have taken place so far and those in the pipeline, and we could be talking about a bill of €1 billion to this State as a result of that. It needs to be addressed. We could be talking about another Army deafness case.

The European Parliament is a lesson to us all on how to conduct politics through negotiation and not through negativity. We are lucky that we have the Seanad. Our democracy needs to be strengthened, not diluted or quenched. Those who propose the abolition of the Seanad are doing so as a deliberate political tactic to divert from their own shortcomings. There are proposals by various parties to increase the universal social charge to 3% on incomes in excess of €100,000 and that could bring in hundreds of millions of euro, and yet our Taoiseach wants to abolish the Seanad and save €4 million.

I met an experienced and seasoned Fine Gael Senator an hour before Ms Harkin came in here and when I told him she was coming in his line was, "She's one of the best." So I thought it was a lovely compliment to be extended to her.