I am not against wind farms or biodigesters but I am for health guidelines being adhered to. It has been shown in the documentation I have here, released under access to information on the environment regulations, that in November 2021 and April 2022 the then Minister, former Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, agreed to abandon the 2017 preferred draft approach to wind energy guidelines, a plan based on science and environmental law and a format approved by Government. Instead of following the law, Eamon Ryan turned it into a wind industry fairy godmother with no noise limits to protect health, no plan to deal with amplitude modulation - the whoosh and thump - and no action on low-frequency noise - the hum and rumble. These issues are now in front of the High Court, with three wind turbines in Wexford having been turned off on the basis of these same issues related to health.

The former Minister, Eamon Ryan, decided at the time that he had the fairy dust to over-ride the EPA expert advice. Did he think magic and strategic environmental assessments? That is what it looks like. This is not just bad policy; it is a serious breach of trust. Both Ministers ignored expert warnings and environmental laws. That is not leadership; it is actually recklessness. What legal authority did they have to do this? The HSE recommends the WHO noise standards to An Bord Pleanála for the protection of health. How can the HSE say one thing and the Government policy says something else? Will the Tánaiste now refer this whole matter to the Department of Health and the HSE for a proper public review? Will he stall wind energy generation until the review has taken place on the basis of health grounds?

Everyone here is for wind but we are also for the health of people who live in the areas where there are wind farms. At the moment in this country we have roughly 1,600 wind turbines. Under the 2030 policies, to reach the target we have to meet and to get constant power we could actually have to put up 7,000 to 8,000 wind farms on this island. Is this why the 2006 guidelines have never been updated? Is this why Eamon Ryan decided to ignore health guidelines for the people of Ireland and put wind energy above health? These people were living here before any applications went in. Then, for five years, the DMAPs were delayed, under which we could have looked at offshore and moved it along to help us on wind energy. This is what I am trying to say. Are we now putting everything else above health for the profiteering of wind farms, to push on to make the 2030 policy?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The short answer is no, we are not. We obviously take the concerns and the health of people in this country very seriously. I recognise there are people affected. I have met them with the Deputy and with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney. I recognise there are people who have concerns with regard to their own community and the impact on their homes. That is why it is very important that we have new wind guidelines that give significant clarity and certainty on this. I am a big believer in renewable energy. We have to be and the Government is. It is the way forward. I appreciate the Deputy says he is supportive of that too. We can go from being a net importer of energy to a net exporter and that would provide our country with huge potential in terms of economic security. There are lots of issues we talk about in this country like the cost of energy. It would be hugely beneficial for our country so I think it is quite an exciting opportunity.

I do take the point that we obviously have to get the planning structures right in terms of how this is developed. People across the country ask me why a particular field is being used for solar, or with regard to a wind turbine, "Hang on a second, is that the right setback distance?" The Deputy is also right in that the general direction of travel here will be to see a lot more offshore. In the part of the country that I live in, we expect to see a very significant development. That is why we are trying to put in place new guidelines. I accept fully, and it is a bit of an understatement, that this process is taking quite a long time. There is a reason for that. The programme for Government recommits to prioritising the publication of new wind energy development guidelines. It specifically says we will have regard to international best practice and standards, so learning from other countries on this as well.

I was in contact with the Minister for housing this morning and I know his Department and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment are working together to look at certain elements of the draft guidelines in relation to new renewable energy targets. It is their intention, following the conclusion of the engagement, to bring the review to Government as quickly as possible. I hope and expect it to be concluded by the end of the year. Certainly, that is what the two Departments told me this morning they are working towards.

There has been very significant engagement on this. There has been a lot of opportunity for input and for public consultation as well. The aim here is to get an appropriate balance between addressing the concerns of local communities by ensuring there is greater earlier community engagement, while also making sure we can tackle the energy and climate emergency we face. The review also needs to take on board, and is taking on board, the changed planning policy context. Since this review started, we have passed the new Planning and Development Act 2024 and we now have a new national planning framework recently approved by the Dáil. Those two documents, the law and the planning framework, will need to be taken into consideration as well. They are working towards preparing draft guidelines. They will put those draft guidelines out for public consultation, so there will be a chance for the Deputy's constituents to feed in then. Let us try to get the process done later this year.

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. We have had guidelines since 2006. The Tánaiste is right; it has taken 12 years where we are looking at guidelines. Every time there is a change of Government, it is guidelines, guidelines, guidelines. If there are guidelines put in place for wind turbines in this country, at least they can be put up straight away. You will not have High Court battles or objections because the guidelines will be there.

It is the same for biodigesters. It is the exact same thing. If guidelines are put in place, the people who want to build these for the betterment of the farming community, energy and everything else will know where they can build them and there will be no High Court battles about them. We will be able to build them and also meet the energy targets we need to meet. However, having 12 years to put in guidelines and during that time ignoring the health guidelines from the World Health Organization which actually tell you wind turbines are supposed to be done 1:10 will tell you there will be no wind turbines built in Ireland if that is adopted. At the moment we are building 1:4. For every 1 m you go up, they say it should be 4 m away, but the World Health Organization says it should be 1:10. That means we need to push offshore now and save the health of people in this country. Look at the health implications. Put them up where we can, get them up and then cover everything in the policies.

Once again, I wish to say that the health concerns of people and making sure any developments we bring about are compliant with people's health and well-being is absolutely important. I appreciate the Deputy saying that he sees the benefit of the guidelines. I share his view on this. Having clarity on this would be helpful for people, including with regard to solar, by the way. When I go around the country, people say, "Hang on, is that a good use of that field? Is that not prime agricultural land?" We need to make a call once and for all. By the way, when we publish the guidelines, as is often the case, I am not saying everyone will be delighted with them. It will probably be far from it but at least we will have clarity and an opportunity for public consultation. We need to call it and get on with it, and that is what the two Departments are working on.

On the issue of anaerobic digesters, there are, as the Deputy knows, priority deliverables under the new strategy. Specifically, there are actions 5f and 5g. They refer to the development of planning guidelines to support local authorities when assessing planning applications in relation to these plants, and a review of resourcing requirements to key Government agencies to support the development of the industry. They are two priority actions that will be delivered through collaboration among key Departments and agencies.