I want to raise once again the question of wind energy guidelines. Last year when I entered this Chamber, I was anxious to understand when the planning guidelines would be updated both for wind energy, the towering tall 185 m high turbines and of course for solar energy.

There was a promise or commitment given that the planning guidelines would be updated and published in the spring of this year. Spring has just slipped away and I am anxious to know when they will be published.

Work is under way between the Department of energy and climate and the Department of housing in terms of a planning statement, which has replaced the format for guidelines. Remember this same Department had to work on the planning on exempted developments, which was quite a significant piece of work, on the rural housing guidelines, which are imminent, and on short-term lets. There is a lot of work going on there. I do think we need somewhat of a conversation or debate about energy. I make this point generally. We had to allocate €750 million a couple of weeks ago to help people pay for their energy costs because of the importation of fossil fuels and the incredible rise in prices, which is impacting people. Renewables give us a pathway to reduce costs for everybody. We need to make sure we get the balance right in terms of the different energy sources, so that we can get costs down permanently for people. That might involve trade-offs but we can discuss that when the planning statement comes along.