Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are two things of note. I have been informed by a text, which is an amazing thing, that Galway County Council, on 25 April 2022 passed a resolution on the following terms: "Galway County Council calls on the Government to direct the ESB to recommence operation of the Derrybrien wind farm and in doing so, provide whatever legislative requirements that are necessary to ensure it may not be legally contested.” That motion was proposed by Councillor Geraldine Donohue and seconded by Councillor Joe Sheridan. The idea of taking a legislative initiative is not just mine but also that of the local authorities involved. They share my view of the matter.

Obviously on Report Stage I cannot table the same amendment that we have just deal with. However, it is my intention to table an amendment that makes provision, as part of the whole structure of how we respond to a situation, where substitute consent would be required as matter of European law but has regard to the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union on this matter. Provision should be made by legislative initiative in the form of legislation where that legislation recites that undoing the development, so to speak, is disproportionate and would cause further damage, and where it is possible to deprive, by legislation, the wrongdoing developer of the benefit of non-compliance with European law some avenue must be opened so that instead of going through the process of simply demolishing, or attempting to demolish, the development that has occurred. I am not talking about giving the Minister the power to override it, but for the Oireachtas to deprive the developer of the benefit of the development but also to remove the possibility that the community and the environment will further suffer as a consequence of withholding a substitute consent so a different approach should be taken. I am putting it on the record that I intend, arising out of the debate, to table amendments along those lines to try to bring some reasonableness to all of this.

I appreciate very much the kind words that the Minister spoke. We are in a little paddle boat that is sailing towards the Niagara Falls on this matter and something will happen. Either this is going to be demolished or not. I fully appreciate what the Minister said, that there are enforcement proceedings either in being or that could be in being and there is a planning process that may or may not be required and he feels constrained in what he can say about these matters. However, common sense must have something to do with what we do in this country and in our Legislature. We must, if we can at all, prevent another environmental and financial disaster, and prevent further damage being done to the environment, because we had not the breadth of imagination to think of different legislative responses to the situation that has arisen in Derrybrien.