Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, who cannot be in the House today.

As outlined during a recent Seanad Adjournment debate on this matter, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála must have regard to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's 2006 wind-energy development guidelines, issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, when assessing and determining planning applications for wind-energy development proposals. These guidelines provide advice to planning authorities on catering for wind-energy development through the development plan and development management processes. The guidelines are also intended to ensure consistency of approach throughout the country in the identification of suitable locations for wind-energy development and the treatment of planning applications for such developments.

A public consultation was commenced in December 2013 on proposed draft revisions to the existing 2006 guidelines, focussing specifically on the issues of noise, setbacks and shadow flicker. These draft revisions propose: the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind-energy developments; a mandatory minimum setback of 500 m between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations; and the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.

The Department received submissions from 2,500 organisations and members of the public during the public consultation period and the submissions, which are currently being considered, will be an important input into the final version of the revised guidelines, which will be issued to planning authorities.

Further work is advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the revised guidelines, when they are finalised. It is intended to finalise the revised wind-energy development guidelines later this year and they will then be issued to planning authorities.

The current review of the guidelines is focussed and limited in nature, and only relates to the noise, shadow flicker and proximity elements of the existing wind-energy development guidelines. Therefore, the remaining content of the 2006 guidelines will remain unchanged in the revised guidelines to be issued later this year. In this context, it is not proposed to suspend the granting of planning permissions for wind-farm developments pending the publication of the specific limited revisions to the 2006 guidelines. Planning authorities will be required to have regard to the revised guidelines with effect from their date of issue in subsequent decisions they make on proposed wind-energy developments, with the existing 2006 guidelines remaining in place in the interim.