Wind turbine guidelines review
Deputy Stanley criticised the long-running delay in revising wind energy guidelines and said he has seen the same reply for years. The Taoiseach said the review would likely restrain onshore wind expansion and that offshore wind is where future growth should focus.
The Taoiseach will recall that last November I brought the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 before the Dáil, partly to get the Bill through and partly in an effort to move the Government on this issue. I have been receiving replies to parliamentary questions on this matter for a decade and a half now. The most recent one, from the start of this month, says:
My Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines ... The review is addressing a number of key aspects of the Guidelines ... [Blah, blah, blah.] That is the same reply I have been getting for a decade and a half. When I introduced that Bill, the Government said it would bring forward guidelines within three months. The Taoiseach, the Government and I all know that, given the subject of debates in the House this week, we need to increase our supply of renewable energy and to become more energy self-sufficient. We cannot depend on Trump and the boys. Nearly a decade and a half has passed. There have been four governments. Who is blocking it? We need to sort it out. It cannot take 15 years to get guidelines in place. I think the Taoiseach would agree with that.
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-----that he has been getting a consistent reply from the Department for a decade and half. I understand the issue but let us be honest: when these guidelines emerge, they will probably lead to a reduction in the number of wind farms. We cannot dress it up and say that the guidelines will help to expand the supply of onshore wind energy because all of the impetus from Deputies and others has been aimed at restricting the growth of onshore wind farms.
Let us be honest: we have had incredible expansion. That is why I think offshore is where we need to go now for the next decade. That said, onshore wind farms have made an enormous contribution to electricity generation. We kind of shield ourselves from the hard choices as a society. I said yesterday that I was in this House when people were against onshore wind, gas generation and solar. We have a huge challenge in terms of energy independence, and we probably need a greater discussion on that.