Recently in County Donegal, residents in Glenties, Doochary and Lettermacaward were blanketed with a leaflet drop announcing a new wind farm application in Cloghercor. This is in addition to a new application in the geographically adjacent Graffy area, a broadly similar landscape. The proposed Cloghercor project runs from Cleengort and Derkmore Lough in the south through to Shallogans and Doochary parallel to the Gweebarra river estuary.

This 7 km stretch of land is mainly peat bog, much of it with significant slopes. It is an environmentally sensitive landscape. The application will be by way of the heavily flawed strategic infrastructure development process. The process is similar to the strategic housing development process for large housing projects, which for all intents and purposes appears to serve only to exclude proper public consultation. As a consequence of this, An Bord Pleanála has seen 90% of its grants overturned on judicial review.

The response to this from the Government has been to propose pricing communities out of the process in direct contravention of the principles of the Aarhus Convention, which is strange as its legislative programme commits to strengthening access to justice through the Aarhus Convention Bill, although I am not surprised that the Government has taken the Trumpian "if we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases" approach to problem solving, as this Administration and previous ones have serious form in this area.

Governments of inaction have failed, and continue to fail, our citizens on so many fronts. I stood in front of the Taoiseach on 18 November and he told me he was anxious to progress a comprehensive review of the wind energy guidelines. Nothing has happened. The following day, I raised the Meenbog landslide as a Topical Issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. As yet, nothing of consequence has emerged from the litany of investigations by an alphabet soup of organisations, which he outlined that day were to happen. Again, during Questions on Promised Legislation in January, I raised with the Taoiseach the focused review of wind energy guidelines, which has been ongoing since December 2013, and the Mulcahy report into planning irregularities in Donegal, which has sat unpublished on the desks of eight different Ministers. The Minister's boss told me he would follow up these issues and that he would speak to the Minister about them. I have heard nothing since.

Derrybrien has been ongoing since 2003 with total Government inaction. Today, the cost of this inaction stands at more than €13.9 million. There is no plan and no action, only dither and spiralling costs. The present mealy-mouthed approach that masquerades as participation does not work because the provision of information is not participative, and neither are attempts to limit access to the courts. Will the Minister outline for me what actions the Government intends to take to ensure communities throughout the country can be properly involved in and consulted on significant development projects in their areas?

I thank the Deputy. I understand that communities in the area, particularly Gaeltacht communities, have been very concerned. I understand it is at a very early stage of the planning application process. It is critical the communities are listened to and involved and there is real engagement. Nothing is certain in the planning system. An Bord Pleanála is an independent agency. We will have to judge any application on its merits. Earlier this week, I was pleased to launch further updated initiatives on how we are looking to engage communities in the renewable revolution that is taking place, for example by looking for direct ownership of new renewable projects and significant advances in terms of supports, facilities or benefits for local communities. We are also looking for engagement with local communities in a way that is fair and in line with the Aarhus Convention, which, as the Deputy has said, is a critical part of European environmental legal structures.

Critical in this is the recent public consultation in which EirGrid has been engaged. I say this particularly for Donegal because it has recognised that areas such as Donegal have seen significant development compared to other parts of the country. It happens to be an area with the strongest wind resource and this may explain it. There is a real understanding that grid policy and renewables development policy go together. I am sure An Bord Pleanála will keep a very close eye on the conclusion of the consultation process, when EirGrid will set out some of the key questions as to where will we benefit from what we have, which is a huge economic resource. Included in this is the potential to bring industrial or other employment opportunities close to the wind rather than always shipping it over long distances. We must look at the grid as well as the wind turbines themselves. This is a key part of the process.

The Deputy is right that the wind energy guidelines have been in consideration since 2013 and there has been a real difficulty in getting final agreement on the relevant measures to be put in place, such as sound and other systems. Neighbouring countries have been able to do this but we have not been able to get agreement. We have to resolve this for local communities and developers so we do not go back to what Deputy Doherty referred to earlier - a process that is so long and drawn out that it frustrates everyone. People do not want to end up in court with the costs and all the problems it involves.

We are starting to go offshore and this has huge potential in particular for Donegal because the north-western waters are significant. We will still have onshore development of renewable energy because it gives us real economic opportunities. However, it has to be done in line with community interests and environmental protection. We commit as a Government to making sure this is the case.

The Minister has outlined that he is waiting for final agreement on the regulations. With whom is he waiting for agreement? As far as I know, nobody has been consulted on a final agreement except, perhaps, the developers. What the Minister has outlined on EirGrid sounds very good and nice but the reality is it is not the developer of the wind farms. The developers of the wind farms are private developers across the board, who railroad over communities and then end up with An Bord Pleanála and the courts and the Aarhus Convention is trampled on. We need to make sure people and communities are recognised and responded to. This is the reality of the situation and what the Government needs to do. The first thing the Minister could do is publish the wind energy guidelines and put in place guidelines that are useful and will benefit communities.

The negotiations are not with any developer. That is not the key consideration. It is with regard to agreement on sound standards and other distance parameters and standards, and looking to best international comparison on that, that there has been difficulty in getting final agreement within Departments. In the first auction system we introduced last year, we saw the first seven community energy projects getting approved. In the next auction system, we will also see a number of community projects and real support for community investment. This on its own is not enough. We need to have mechanisms which ensure that people, particularly those who live close to renewable energy systems - solar or wind - have the potential to gain. Their concerns must be listened to and heeded in An Bord Pleanála and lessons must be learned from Derrybrien and the bogslide last year in Donegal. The development of this industry has to be in tune with the protection of the environment and not hindering it. Those lessons will be learned and An Bord Pleanála will apply them.