Today I want to raise an issue that is affecting many communities around this country. Outside on Kildare Street today, hundreds of people have gathered from 18 counties representing probably 50 community action groups regarding the development, proposed or otherwise, of wind farms across this country. It is unbelievable to think that the communities have to come together. They have formed an alliance called the Community Environmental Protection Alliance, CEPA.

The problem is that we have sleep-walked our way into providing wind farms all over this country to provide green energy. This agenda that we need green energy at any cost is being led by some politicians and also by the media. What is being proposed in many of the communities around our country is not a just transition. It is not the way to go. It is actually creating more problems that we will have inquiries about in ten to 15 years' time as to how we did these things.

If you take children with autism, the noise coming from these wind turbines can have an effect on them. The legal requirements are not being met on the ground when wind farms are being put in place.

The people who are outside the gates of Leinster House today are not left wing and they are not right wing. They are actually normal, ordinary people who took a day off work today to come up here to make a statement to the politicians that we have got to look at what we are at in terms of wind development.

One goes back to the regulations we have. The guidelines are in place since 2006, a time when a wind turbine had a height of approximately 80 m. Today the proposals are for a height of 180 m, completely out of sync with any kind of recognition for what was in place 15 years ago. The environmental protection is in place and the EU habitats directive is in place but they are not being put in place correctly. Developers who have plenty of money can put in a submission, as they did in Belclare, of over 4,000 pages to An Bord Pleanála and expect the local community group to be able to decipher all of that and to come up with a counterargument without any funds, resources or expertise but, my God, today these people have made a statement. They are not going to take this lying down.

When the Taoiseach came into office, he stated that he needs to connect with the ordinary people. I would suggest that we engage with CEPA to sit down with them. They are ordinary people, they are working people and they are taxpayers but what they want to make sure is that the environment and the places in which they live and bring up their children will be safe and that they protect generations to come.

I thank Deputy Canney for raising this issue today on behalf of his constituents. I passionately believe in renewable energy. I believe it is absolutely essential to get to where we need to get to in terms of our own energy independence.

We are living through a climate emergency. I know we share that view. The question the Deputy raised is about how we do it and how we try to bring communities with us as we address that.

Offshore wind in particular is our largest source of renewable electricity in Ireland. It accounted for almost 39% of all electricity generated last year. In many ways, this country is a world leader as regards the level of installed wind energy capacity per person as well as the integration of that into our grid. We need to do more when it comes to renewable energy. We have got to be quite honest about that. We need to do more when it comes to wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. We also need to do that in a way that brings communities with us. That is a point I take very seriously because climate is an extraordinary challenge that every single one of us faces in every community. It is not an issue that divides rural or urban Ireland, or young or old. It does not differentiate. The planet is on fire. We need to see the switch to renewables. We need to bring communities with us and inject a degree of common sense and reasonableness in how we go about that.

As the Deputy knows, the review of the 2006 wind energy development guidelines has been going on for a very long period. This tries to address a number of key aspects of the guidelines, including set-back distance, noise, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections. While the review has been ongoing for a very significant period, I am pleased to say that a lot of progress has now been made towards concluding the process. The Climate Action Plan 2024, which the Government considered today, sets out a timeline of the final quarter of this year for the publication of the revised wind guidelines. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage must now lead on delivering on that commitment, as I know it will. The changing and continuously evolving policy and technical context, including the new Planning and Development Bill 2023 I referenced, which is currently going through the Oireachtas, the revision of the national planning framework and the White Paper on the renewable electricity spatial policy framework, reinforce the need to ensure that the finalised guidelines, once issued, are fit for purpose. The point I am endeavouring to make is a lot has gone on since the review commenced.

The revised wind guidelines will provide guidance relating to the determination of wind farm planning applications and will have regard to current renewable energy and climate targets. It will also try to strike an appropriate balance with regard to the impact of wind energy development on local communities, which will address some of the issues the Deputy raised regarding noise annoyance and set-back distance. As part of the review process and in line with EU directive requirements, a strategic environmental assessment of the draft wind guidelines is also being carried out. In the meantime, the 2006 wind guidelines are the guidelines. They are the ones in force, but we expect to have new guidelines in place by the end of the year.

I will say two things about what the Taoiseach said: people matter and families matter. It is important that in any rules, regulations, guidelines or anything like those we bring in, our people have got to be at the top of the agenda. Deputy O'Donoghue will talk about this matter after me. However, it is important we see this as something that needs to be done for people on the ground. They are in the Gallery listening to the Taoiseach. I ask him to take on board that CEPA needs to meet with him as a matter of urgency, together with Deputy O'Donoghue and me. That is important for the sake of the faith we need to restore in what we are doing here. We can have a roof revolution in terms of green energy.

We have got to learn something from what happened at Derrybrien, where we erected turbines and demolished the environment, but now cannot use the turbines because they have been ruled out of order in Europe. It has landed at the end of the road as regards planning. Something happened there that was wrong, which has been repeated and repeated. It is time we said stop, until we have something where we know what we are dealing with and deal with it for the people.

I thank the Deputy. Obviously, people and communities absolutely matter. That is why it is important to say on the record that there will be an opportunity, before the draft guidelines are finalised, for further input and consultation, including with CEPA. I have no difficulty at all in meeting with CEPA. I just have to arrange it in my diary. I am very happy to make sure that happens, along with engagement with relevant line Ministers as well.

We all need to be honest about this, which we are. People and communities should not be misrepresented. We need renewable energy. We all get that.

We also need guidelines that work, that are fit for purpose and that take cognisance of a number of the changes we have seen in recent months and years and some of the provisions in the planning Bill that I have outlined. We hope that Bill will be passed into law during the summer period. We will work to get this right. We will engage with communities and work to have a replacement for the 2006 wind guidelines later this year.