Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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758. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the planning guidelines in place at national level in respect of the development of solar panel farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5700/16]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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There are no specific planning guidelines in respect of solar farms and I have no proposals to bring forward such guidelines at the present time. However, the matter will be kept under review, in consultation with my colleague the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the context of the Government’s recently published White Paper on Energy Policy entitled Ireland’s Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Future.

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, each planning authority’s development plan must set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned. Section 10 of the Act requires a development plan to include, inter alia, objectives for the provision or facilitation of the provision of infrastructure including energy facilitiesand many local authorities have developed renewable energy strategies for their areas in this context.