Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the reason guidelines listed in a Government-commissioned document (details supplied) stated that the required setback position for wind turbines is 1,209 metres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14645/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the objective of the Report referred to, commissioned by SEAI, was to inform consideration of the impact of potential noise limits on the available wind energy capacity in Ireland.  Commissioned by my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, I gather that this was solely an acoustic modelling exercise and that a number of assumptions were made in compiling the report. It is also worth noting the limited scope of this report, which did not include an environmental study.

Within a broader policy context, in December 2013, my Department published proposed draft revisions to the noise, setback distance and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed:

- the setting of a more stringent day and night-time noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments,

- a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 metres between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations, and

- the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.

A public consultation process was also initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines, which ran until February 2014. The Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this public consultation process.

In light of the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government to finalise the Guidelines and on-going policy and legal developments in this area, my Department is continuing to advance work on the Guidelines and related matters in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, in order to bring the various issues to a conclusion as early as possible. I expect to be in a position to make a statement on the matter in the coming weeks, outlining the timelines for implementation of the various elements.

As part of the overall review, and with regard to the recent ECJ Judgement in Case C-290/15 on the Belgian/Wallonian wind energy guidelines, it is proposed to undertake a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of the proposed revisions to the 2006 Guidelines - in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2001/24/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment - before they are finalised. The SEA process will include public consultation.