John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and thank her for agreeing to this debate which was sought only a short time ago by the Seanad. She is receptive to our views and not dismissive of our position on the issue. We are not looking for anything more than a little balance to be brought to the policy on wind energy production.

I am pleased and heartened that the Minister of State mentioned the community concern in her statement. The Seanad has taken an early lead on this issue, as has been recognised. Senator John Kelly brought forward a Bill at an early juncture to try to establish a balance in the debate. Neither he nor I is against renewable energy or wind energy production which we consider has a role to play in the economic redevelopment of the country. However, I am certain that we will be sleepwalking into another planning fiasco, another bubble and economic fiasco if we embrace what is on the table without questioning and amending it - a total of 2,500 giant turbines in the midlands, as a result of which everybody will walk away as a millionaire and have a swimming pool and there will be 70,000 jobs. That was the proposition put to us as recently as a few months ago by the wind energy developers. Now, because some of us have raised legitimate concerns on behalf of the communities and families in these areas, we are categorised as being anti-development, anti-wind energy and, in my case, anti-farmer. I reject this as I live in a rural part of the country and all of my neighbours are farmers. As my colleagues in the House who come from farming backgrounds know, I am very conscious of the needs of farming and rural communities. We should stick to the issues and policy matters involved in the debate rather than personalising the issue.

The guidelines are at the heart of this discussion. It is not Senator John Kelly or other colleagues in the House who are agitating or generating obstructive public debate on this issue. Go to Clonbullogue, Ballyroan, Vicarstown or Rosenallis in the heart of the Slieve Bloom mountains, while tomorrow night communities from The Swan and Wolfhill are meeting in Luggacurran. It is an organic response from communities which is being organised by women who are concerned that there will be turbines in their backyards. They are concerned about the welfare and well-being of their families and it is a genuine concern. I have a simple question for the wind energy developers. Would they agree to have one or up to five of these turbines in their own backyard? That is essentially what is being proposed. If they cannot give an honest answer to that question, why would they impose it on their neighbours? That is at the heart of the planning process. As the Minister of State said, the scale of these turbines is not like anything we have seen previously.

The reason there should be a moratorium is that we are giving planning permission, the planning process is in train without proper regulation and there are no proper ground rules in place. The wind energy developers are travelling through counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath in the evening and at night with their cheque books. They are signing up with options for everybody in an area, knowing that they do not intend to place turbines on that land or in these areas. As they are not the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, why would they sign a contract for €3,000? They are doing so in areas that have not been designated for the development of wind farms.

They are showing no regard for planning provisions or county development plans.

I emphasise that this is not merely a personal view or position. The economist Colm McCarthy has pointed out that we are building the next bubble and will require a NAMA for wind farms at some future date. Economists at the ESRI, meanwhile, have described the plan as currently constituted as unworkable. The insight offered by these independent persons and bodies should be embedded in the guidelines, and those guidelines must be statutorily binding and consistently applied throughout the country.