Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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80. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department has been in touch with the European Commission to outline the way that it intends to proceed with Derrybrien wind farm; the progress being made towards resolution of the daily €15,000 fines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36597/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In accordance with Section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, I am specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála is or may be concerned. However, I can advise that a decision on the substitute consent application for the Derrybrien Wind Farm in County Galway was signed by An Bord Pleanála on Friday 4 February 2022.

In their decision, the Board refused to grant substitute consent for ESB’s wind farm, which ends the statutory process seeking to retrospectively regularise the environmental impact assessment status of the wind farm, (the subject matter of the EU court judgment in case C-261/18). The Board's decision has been notified to all parties to the case, as well as being made available on the Board's website.

On 16 March 2022, ESB decided to cease operations at the Derrybrien wind farm permanently, and it is understood that ESB is preparing to decommission the wind farm in line with regulatory and legal requirements.

Planning legislation specifies that a development that has been refused substitute consent is deemed to be an ‘unauthorised development’ development by primary legislation, Galway County Council, the relevant planning authority, is required to issue a planning enforcement notice in accordance with sections 154 and 177O(5) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which among other things shall require the cessation of activity on site.

On 30 May 2022, officials in my Department wrote to the European Commission, to seek to close out the related infringement case against Ireland (case C-261/18) on the basis of the Board’s decision to refuse permission for the wind farm, which unauthorised development is now an enforcement matter for the relevant planning authority. Discussions with the Commission in this regard are ongoing.