Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support all that has been said in the debate on common sense prevailing in regard to the provision of wind farms throughout the country. However, I would ask what is the first concern for Government. In my opinion, it is the welfare of the communities across rural Ireland. Secondary to that should be the provision of energy through wind farms.

I have a long history of dealing with wind energy developers. Well over ten years ago in south Tipperary, in a small place called Ahenny on the fringes of Carrick-on-Suir and on the border of Tipperary and Kilkenny, a wind energy development company came visiting. It tried to destroy that area with a wind farm. I and other people in the area fought it on the basis of the destruction of the community and of the scenic and historical value of the Ahenny high crosses which were located there. We won that battle and the company went away. However, it has divided the community up to this day. There were people in the community who were promised money, who were called on late at night and who were given post-signed cheques. However, they never got to draw down those cheques and, to this day, they do not speak to me. That is what this type of thing does to communities in this country, and we need to be aware of it.

At the moment, the same thing is happening again. People have been visited across Laois and other areas and they have been promised money before any public consultation has taken place. A public consultation is supposed to consult with communities, developers, the State and the local authority to see that what is being implemented is in the best interest of the community and also of the economics of the country.

That is not happening. The public consultation process in this country is a joke, not only in respect of wind energy but in respect of every other service. I have attended meetings where hundreds of people congregate in small halls in rural Ireland. The developers are there wearing their suits giving their hand-outs to the people. There is no discussion or independent analysis of what is happening and no independent body set up or provided to examine what exactly happens as a result of the discussions. Then we go away and grant planning permission.

Local authorities bring forward county development plans on a six-year rolling basis. There is now a requirement within those county development plans to deal with wind energy. Developers are riding over those plans, ignoring them in their rush to put up wind farms across the country. I was a councillor for 23 years, as were many other people here. If we go to meetings with concerned citizens about issues such as wind energy and tell them that as councillors we have no power whatsoever because the county development plans will be overridden by guidelines, what is the purpose of local authorities? The guidelines that Senator Kelly is bringing forward need to be brought forward as statutory powers implemented in each county development plan. This needs to happen quickly. We do not want the opportunity to develop an energy source in this country because it will end up in the Supreme Court and will drag on for years on end. That is what will happen. I ask the Minister of State to give the lead in this and take action on the planning process. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will deal with the economics and the energy benefit. I know that the Minister of State will deal with this and I look forward to her coming forward on this matter.