Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will surprise and shock Senator Boylan by saying virtually everything she said I agree with, except for one bit, which is that she wants this place torn down and €200 million worth of investment to be smashed up. There is potential for huge environmental damage from the remedial works she wants undertaken to make an environmental point. That is a big mistake. I invite the Senator to read the inspector's report and then read the decision of An Bord Pleanála; one is good while the other is complete rubbish and an abdication of common sense by a body that is fairly seriously discredited as things stand.

The Minister of State stated acceptance of this Bill would set a bad precedent. If he had said the Attorney General was advising the Government at the Cabinet meeting today that for Ireland to adopt the measures provided for in the Bill would be unconstitutional because it would breach European law and that nothing of this kind could be done under European law, I would be impressed even though I would profoundly disagree. If he had said that, I would understand it.

I reiterate my example of the motorway bridge in France. Would anybody expect the French Government to smash up a bridge because it had done damage to a river in France? They would not, but in Ireland the power of the ESB was such that it clung onto its unauthorised development for so long and incurred fines for Ireland. A pathetic Government response kowtowed to the ESB, did nothing about this and allowed the ESB keep the benefit of its unlawful acts over the bones of two decades. That is what went wrong and that is why we got fines. It was the cowardice of Irish Governments that led to this mess.

I appreciate the care the Minister of State gave to his response. He said the Western Development Commission is not in a position to take this over because this is not its bailiwick. The Act provides for the powers to be given to that commission but the real solution is to give it the assets, tell it to operate them and it will go to a commercial wind farm operator and say, "On an agency basis, manage this place, generate the electricity and send us the cheque." That is the simple solution. I do not expect the people in Ballaghaderreen suddenly to become electricity generation experts. All I want is that this valuable €200 million investment is not destroyed. We all inspected the Slieve Aughty mountains and saw what it would take to restore this land. All I want is that that operation, which will create massive further environmental damage, not be undertaken. There are quarries, roads and massive plinths. There are things like enormous Second World War pillboxes on which these turbines are located.