Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I should have wished the Minister well in his new job as Minister for Health. Of course health issues come up regularly with these projects. I am disappointed that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, himself, is not here - I had expected that he would be.

This reminds me of the tax amnesty. The Government gives a signal to let people know they have a few months to regularise their affairs and they will be all right. That is exactly what has happened here. The signal was given in December that the planning rules would be tightened up a small bit - we are hoping that they will go much further because the guidelines are not acceptable. However, developers, who get in before the Government publishes the guidelines, will get their planning permission on the basis of guidelines the Government admits are outdated. That is what is happening at the moment throughout the country. Developers are getting planning permissions straight through.

There is no indication as to when these guidelines will be published. There is no statutory provision for this long public consultation period. The Act states that the Minister may issue guidelines. Why does he not issue guidelines, pointing out that these are different turbines? At 600 ft. they are different from what was available in 2006.

I plead with the Minister, on behalf of the people, to listen and state it is wrong to allow outdated planning guidelines. We are supposed to be in favour of proper planning and development, but we are openly stating if planning permission is applied for and we have not published the guidelines the applicant will get through the gap. It is completely wrong. The Minister should bring this back to Cabinet. It is driving people mad throughout the country, and rightly so because it is so unfair.