Carlow solar farm proliferation
Deputy Callaghan said the spread of large solar farms around Rathoe needs regulation and better land-use planning. The Tánaiste said the Government supports renewables but wants a balanced land use review to reconcile environmental, social and economic interests.
I wish to highlight something that is happening across County Carlow, namely, the proliferation of solar farms. To be clear, neither I nor anyone I know in Carlow is against renewable energy regeneration, nor are we against our neighbours and friends who make a living from having wind or solar farms on their lands. In the area surrounding Rathoe village, though, there will potentially soon be in excess of 1,000 acres of solar farms. We are not saying that solar or wind farms should not exist. We are just saying that we need regulation.
The programme for Government commits to completing the second phase of the land use review, which aims to balance environmental, social and economic considerations. Anecdotally, wildlife is being disturbed with the development of mass areas of solar farms and many believe that this could be contributing to the marked increase we see in TB cases throughout the country. In my locality, a farmer who has not had TB on his land in more than 30 years recently lost more than a quarter of his herd to it. Will the Tánaiste let me know when we will see solar and wind farms being regulated?
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Callaghan for raising this issue. It is one that is raised with me often. The Deputy is correct, in that these people are not against renewable energy. Far from it, but they want to have a rational understanding of how we best use the land in our communities with all of the various competing interests.
As the Deputy said, our programme for Government commits to completing the second phase of the land use review, which aims to balance environmental, social and economic consideration. The second phase follows on from the first phase, which was completed in March 2023 and led by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and focused on evidence gathering. The final report for phase 2, which was independently chaired, was submitted to the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on 2 May. The review describes current land use patterns and the various demands on land on delivering on our national commitments. The preparation of the report did involve active engagement with a broad range of key stakeholders. The Ministers will now, before reporting to Government, consider the report, which I understand to be substantial, with a lot of work, research and consultation over the last four years. Once we have a definitive timeline for that coming to Government, I will revert to the Deputy, but I understand the time sensitivities of this.