A highly emotive and controversial issue across the midlands currently is that of industrial wind turbines. In recent months, there has been a series of public meetings which politicians from all political parties have attended. We are told continually that we are still operating under the 2006 guidelines introduced by Fianna Fáil when in government. A number of Bills are pending.

The Deputy recommended-----

I did not interrupt the Deputy when he was speaking.

Which legislation-----

He should please have the manners afforded to him.

About which legislation is the Deputy talking?

Two Bills are pending. The first is the Geothermal Energy Development Bill and the second is the EirGrid Bill. A third Bill, a Private Members' Bill, has been brought forward by my constituency colleague, Deputy Penrose, to deal with this issue. Is there any possibility those Bills will be taken in the near future? At every meeting we attend, there is a call from the public for a moratorium to be introduced until such time as we have proper legislation in place to deal with this issue. There are implications for our environment-----

We cannot have a debate now.

-----and for our tourism industry. There are also health implications associated with this.

The EirGrid Bill is due next year. The Government is very firmly committed to meeting the targets we have set for wind energy and it will play an important part in meeting those targets. We are very much aware of the extent of public concern about wind turbines and so on. I know where I come from that these matters cause people genuine concern. There is a need to strike the right balance between the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, which is exceptionally high each year, and the needs of local communities, which is what the Deputy articulated.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, has put in place a targeted review of the wind energy guidelines of 2006, of which the Deputy spoke, focusing specifically on noise, flicker and proximity, or closeness, to houses.

The timetable for the publication of this is quarter four of 2013, in a couple of weeks' time. The draft guidelines will be for a period of six weeks to two months to allow for publication of the final guidelines in 2014. I assure the Deputy and the people of the midlands that all these views will be taken into account. These are serious matters, although quite clearly-----

The Taoiseach's tone has changed since the last time I raised this.

We know who was in government in 2006. That is the timetable and I expect it will be adhered to and that the issues the Deputy raised will be taken into account.