2026-07-14

I requested that this issue of renewable energy be discussed tonight because I am dumbfounded that we are now finishing another year without having the national guidelines for wind turbines. There are no national guidelines. I just cannot believe that we are in the last week of this session and we still do not have them. It is absolutely outrageous that we are developing onshore wind energy with planning guidelines that are 20 years old. It is crazy. How are we supposed to be taken seriously in respect of climate change and what we need to do in that area? Communities surrounding proposed wind turbine developments in County Mayo deserve better. These communities are crying out for national guidelines that will force the developers of these wind energy facilities to adhere to guidelines. In the absence of such guidelines, however, it is like a free-for-all. These communities deserve respect and proper, meaningful consultation. The saturation of Mayo with onshore wind farms without any guidelines is a growing concern. The Tirawley wind farm, at Lacken along the Céide coast, disregards 6,000 years of cultural heritage, never mind the effects on the ecology and biodiversity in a special area of conservation. We recently launched a hugely ambitious tourism plan. The proposal for Geesala, Mount Jubilee and Srah communities, alongside the proposal in Rinmore, will disrupt an area with some of Ireland's rarest species. The proposed site sits on healthy, functioning blanket bog, which is a priority EU habitat and a major natural carbon sink. The project involves draining substantial peatland areas. As the Minister of State knows, Erris's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, relying on unspoiled landscapes along the Wild Atlantic Way. According to the Erris Chamber of Commerce, the erection of 180 m high turbines will cause significant visual blight, undermine the region's tourism appeal and threaten local businesses and livelihoods. The proposed development in Mayo Abbey again undermines an area of high cultural amenity. The proposed site is also prone to flooding. Why develop a wind farm in an area that is prone to flooding? I am giving these areas as examples, not because I am against the development of renewable energy but because it has to be done in the right way and in the right place. It is being done in the wrong way and in areas too close to houses and that have all the issues I mentioned. There are depopulated remote areas that lend themselves to the establishment of wind energy projects. The families living close to massive wind turbines struggle, and too often fail, to get planning permission, even to build modest homes for their sons and daughters to return. Yet, they are supposed to accept the development of these wind farms using guidelines that are 20 years old and not fit for purpose. Where are the plans to develop offshore wind? We have a huge expanse along the west coast but there is nothing for the west coast in the proposed development of offshore wind energy. I am concerned because these communities are growing angrier and angrier, and they feel disrespected because there is no proper consultation. Asking somebody to come along to a hall at a particular time, and telling them they can bring three people with them, is wrong and disrespectful to communities. There is a right way of doing this, which I will tell the Minister of State about in my next contribution.

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government reaffirms Ireland's commitment to 80% of electricity demand being met in the near term and there are plans to move to net zero by 2050. The deployment of renewable electricity, including wind energy, is vital to Ireland meeting its ambitious domestic targets and international commitments. The commencement of Chapters 1 to 4, inclusive, of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 provides the statutory basis for the national planning framework and regional spatial and economic strategies and introduces provisions for what are known as national planning statements. These national planning statements have been introduced to replace ministerial guidelines issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. All existing section 28 guidelines will, over time, be revoked and replaced with new national planning statements. Any current section 28 guidelines will, however, remain in force until revoked or replaced by a corresponding national planning statement. Subsequently, this means new guidance on wind energy development will issue as a national planning statement following review of the existing 2006 wind energy development guidelines. While this has been ongoing for some time, progress has been made towards concluding the review process. In light of the evolving policy and legislative framework, there is a need to ensure the national planning statement will be fit for purpose, while having appropriate regard to the impacts of wind energy development. In respect of sectoral national planning statements in particular, such as onshore wind energy development, there is also an important role for the relevant policy Department collaborating with my Department on the development of these national planning statements. In that context, my Department is working closely with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment as the Department with responsibility for this area of Government policy in order to identify the factors relevant to the preparation of the national planning statement. It will address key matters, including noise, setback distance, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connection. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, in the context of its environmental noise, climate and renewable energy policies remit, has been working to advance guidance on the noise aspect of the national planning statement, which is highly technical in nature. With regard to the impact of development on communities, the upcoming national planning statement will aim to strike an appropriate balance between addressing the concerns of local communities by ensuring there is greater and earlier community engagement by wind energy developers, while maintaining Ireland's ability to deliver on its binding climate and renewable energy obligations. Public participation is the key element of substantive decision-making processes under the Planning and Development Act 2024. It is open to members of the public to make an observation or submission on the draft development plan to the local authority. Any member of the public may make an observation or submission on a planning application, including in relation to wind energy developments. Planning authorities are statutorily obliged to consider such submissions before making a decision on the application. Further to this, the draft national planning statement on wind energy will be subject to strategic environmental assessment and a public consultation will be held as part of the process, whereby individual stakeholders, including community groups, will have an opportunity to make observations on the draft national planning statement.

I thank the Minister of State. That response makes more promises but there is nothing for the here and now and what people are experiencing right now. The damage caused by the Government's regulatory vacuum is leading to a deteriorating situation in local areas. That is a fact. It is also a risk to Ireland's energy security. Meanwhile, households live in fear of their ever-increasing, and already huge, electricity bills. We want to do renewable energy in a very different way. Rather than excessive commodification of energy for profit, we would treat it as a public good and translate that into national wealth, increased community ownership, proper consultation and fair and democratic decision-making. There is a right way to do all of this. I fear that the vacuum left by the Government is doing damage to these rural areas. Have we learned nothing from the Corrib gas project, the lack of consultation there and how that started off? I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister to publish the guidelines as quickly as possible. I want to see offshore wind being developed along the west coast as well. We cannot just keep accepting excuse after excuse. There is huge wealth to be gained for the community along the western seaboard if this is done properly. We are supposed to be in the Atlantic economic corridor. That has to mean more than just a phrase. The opportunities there for offshore wind energy generation would alleviate all of this, help us to meet our targets and do what we need to do in the first place. It is one of the Government's greatest failures not to have these guidelines in place and to leave this vacuum. It is hugely disrespectful to the communities I mentioned and other communities across Mayo and across the western seaboard.

Progress has been made in this regard. The Department is working towards the publication of a wind energy national planning statement as a matter of priority. The programme for Government commits to prioritising publication and review of the guidelines, which will form a national planning statement. The Department is working towards meeting this commitment to finalise a national planning statement having regard to evolving policy, public consultations and technical contexts while having appropriate regard to the impact of wind energy developments. It is imperative that a robust up-to-date policy is provided that will take account of the evolved policy and legislative context of the technological progress of recent decades, the need for Ireland to meet its ambitious targets of 9 GW of onshore wind energy capacity and the informed decisions of stakeholders and the public. The Minister is satisfied that in the short to medium term the existing evolving planning system alongside the 2006 guidelines supported by Government policy more generally provide a sufficiently robust policy and legislative framework to facilitate the role of renewable energy development in a sustainable manner and to assist with meeting our renewable electricity requirements while balancing the perspectives of the local community and public and stakeholder engagement. The 2006 wind energy development guidelines remain in force pending the finalisation of the review.