Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, to the House.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire agus táim thar a bheith buíoch dó as teacht isteach ar an gceist tábhachtach seo. Mar atá a fhios aige, ardaíonn muid ceisteanna faoi mhuilte gaoithe go minic sna Tithe. Baineann an cheist seo le forbairt san earnáíl sin.

The question I am raising is in relation to the development of the wind energy sector in Ireland. It is an issue that is raised in this House frequently because there is quite a number of Senators who have concerns around the area of wind development. At the moment there seems to be a huge push to develop wind farms in many rural areas. I am particularly concerned about the speed of development in Connemara. We have planning applications going through in Moycullen for a 67-turbine wind farm. We have also seen other applications for wind farms going up across Connemara and land being bought up. Many of the local people are raising issues with me about the impact of the wind farms on their health and lives. In some cases, there seem to be delays or discrepancies between environmental impact statements and planning permissions. It seems that turbines were added to a number of the developments before the planning was sanctioned. We are looking into areas like that and are not yet clear as to whether the environmental impact statements were updated to include the new wind turbines and the effects of light flicker and noise pollution in particular.

When I was looking into this issue, I contacted the EPA because a number of local residents felt the light flicker they were experiencing was a lot greater than had been put in the proposals by the development companies. We wanted to find out who was actually monitoring this, and thought the EPA might have a role. However, when we contacted the EPA we were told that it does not have any ongoing role in monitoring light flicker or sound emissions. When we contacted the county councils, they were not too eager to go there, to be quite honest. It is an area that needs to be looked at because there are a number of issues around this.

The issue of the national strategic environmental assessment of wind energy development was also raised with me. A number of people requested that I ask the Minister whether a national strategic environmental assessment has been done on the development of wind farms. It is felt that a lot of the developers are pushing forward very quickly because of the end of tax breaks late next year, and that many developments are being fast forwarded. People have concerns about the numbers of turbines going up in areas of scenic amenity like Connemara. There are concerns over archaeological issues; archaeological sites are being trampled over, to be quite honest.

People are raising these objections through the planning process, but sometimes they feel the consultation that is done by the private companies involved leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes site notices are put in places where they are not very visible. The engagement between the companies and landholders, where people are asked to sign an option or contract which basically gags them from speaking about having talked to a company, divides communities in a number of cases. I have had people come and tell me that they sense people are being bought out; they sign a contract forbidding them from speaking to their neighbours about having talked to companies. There are concerns around that.

I understand that if this national strategic environmental assessment is not in place, there could be issues around the legality of some of the planning permissions. I am looking forward to the Minister's response and am very grateful.

Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch don Aire as teacht isteach agus táim ag súil go mór lena fhreagra.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Aontaím leis an Seanadóir gur ábhar an-tábhachtach é seo agus is maith an rud é go bhfuil seans againn é a phlé inniu.

My Department is currently developing a renewable electricity policy and development framework, which will be underpinned by a strategic environmental assessment and what is called an appropriate assessment. The proposed framework will be completed in 2015, and will address policy and development to 2030 and beyond. It will give guidance to those seeking development consent, primarily in relation to large-scale renewable electricity projects - those above 50 MW. It will also provide guidance to An Bord Pleanála, the planning authorities, other statutory authorities, and the general public. It will have a spatial component, which will influence regional planning guidelines and any revised national spatial strategy or national equivalent.

It is not envisaged that the development of wind farms will stop while the new framework is being drawn up, because the continued development of wind power is increasing our security of energy supply, delivering environmentally sustainable energy, and helping us meet our carbon emission and renewable energy targets.

However, local communities will continue to benefit from the existing and robust legislative and regulatory framework for planning applications for wind farms. It is right that there should be such a robust framework which is determined by the existing Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2014. Under those provisions, and I would stress to the Senator that I do not have responsibility for the planning code, my colleague Deputy Kelly does, but for the sake of completeness, virtually all wind farm development projects require planning permission. The only exceptions are some small individual turbines. In most cases, application for planning permission must be made to a local authority in the first instance. The application may subsequently be the subject of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. In the case of large scale developments above 50 MW, application must be made directly to An Bord Pleanála under the provisions of this strategic infrastructure development system. All wind energy developments with more than five turbines or with an output greater than 5 MW also require an environmental impact assessment. This includes compilation of an environmental impact statement which is a thorough examination of all relevant environmental impacts. Public participation in the planning permission process is facilitated and interested parties are encouraged to make their views known.

Many renewable electricity projects also require an assessment, which is known as an appropriate assessment, under the EU habitats directive. This is a particularly rigorous interrogation of proposed projects to ensure that they do not adversely affect the integrity of any special area of conservation or special protection area. General guidance in respect of wind energy developments is currently set out in the Wind Energy Development Guidelines 2006 for planning authorities published by the former Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The guidelines are currently being revised and will continue to apply after completion and adoption of the proposed renewable electricity policy and development framework that I mentioned earlier. In addition, all local authorities have a development plan which usually covers renewable energy development. Many have a detailed wind energy strategy also. It is envisaged that these policy documents will remain in force until such time as they might be modified in relation to the detailed policies set out in the proposed renewable electricity policy and development framework.

There is a lot of information and reference to different frameworks and policies and so on in my reply. I wish to emphasise to the Senator and to the House that I regard community and citizen consultation as being absolutely critical. We have a huge amount of work to do and great opportunity in developing our White Paper on energy supply and the energy needs of this country for the next generation, for the next 20 or 30 years. We have six or seven months to complete that work.

I would encourage all Members of the Oireachtas - I have said this publicly before - to participate now in this discussion. We have a lot of claims and counterclaims, for example on needs and needs analysis: What is the need? What is the supply we currently have? Did we overestimate it in 2008? Is there a risk we could underestimate it now? The supply of energy and prediction as to the requirement in respect of energy is not an exact science. It is something that is quite dynamic. We need to look to the future. We need to measure what the needs are. There is a huge opportunity for communities who see themselves as affected very often by various projects, including the grid, to participate and to join in that discussion and debate. We are having seminars right throughout the country in respect of the Green Paper which Deputy Pat Rabbitte published earlier this year. I would strongly encourage Senators to take an interest - as I know the Senators here do - in this critically important issue of how we match the undoubted economic and social value of sustainable energy supply with the needs and concerns, and sometimes the fears, of local communities. We can work together in a deliberative fashion to achieve that. I am very keen to do so.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh míle maith agat, a Aire. I appreciate the Minister's reply. I am a bit taken aback by the reply in one sense because it strikes me as a "closing the stable door after the horse has bolted" type reply. The Minister is saying the strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment are being developed and that he is hoping they are developed by the end of 2015 for the period going forward. I commend that. I think that is important.

However, the fact of the matter is, on the ground, most of the planning applications for the wind farms, because of the grid connections and so forth, will have been agreed by the end of 2015. Therefore, the Minister's strategic assessment will not impact on the ones going up at the moment. There are issues with all the wind farms for which planning permission is being given at the moment. There has been criticism of this by so many people, including many Senators in this House, because of the lack of legislation in the area. This was raised with the Minister's predecessor. I find it quite extraordinary and I call on the Minister to look at this issue and to talk to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly. Wind farm developments should be stalled until this strategic assessment is in place so that the Minister is sure that his policy will feed into the Green Paper that he has and we can ensure that the impact on communities is safe and balanced. Surely the environmental assessment has a purpose and a reason. However, to have given all the planning permissions before that is done seems to me to be a very back-to-front way of developing the industry. I certainly do not think the developer-led industry should be let dictate to the Government and to the Minister how things should go ahead. The environmental impact and the community impact should be put first and the rights of those people should be put first and foremost before we push ahead with developments that could have a detrimental impact in the future.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I was responding to the specific question I was asked in respect of the framework. In terms of myself and my responsibilities and my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, and his responsibilities, of course we are in discussion. Of course we have discussed these issues, particularly in the context of the planning guidelines which are currently being revised and which I understand are intended to be published within the coming weeks, certainly not the coming months or years but within the coming weeks. That is the plan. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, has actually stated that. We are in discussion in relation to it.

There is no question of the Government or any Minister being dictated to by any interest. Absolutely no question of it. I would also emphasise that it is not as if there is no basis for community participation or community input. It may not be adequate. In fact, I think it is not adequate. However, it would be wrong to say there is none. We do have a robust planning system. We do have opportunity for people to participate in that and to input into it. It is not a question of us having to invent a whole process of community involvement and community participation because we have that in our planning system.

We are also dealing, for example, with the issue of noise which is one of the issues people have. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, has arranged for a piece of work to be prepared on the issue of noise. We will have that in the next few weeks. That is feeding into our discussions as well in relation to the planning guidelines. This is not all down the road, in months and months' or years' time. This is work that is happening at the moment and will feed into our deliberations on this in early course.