In my constituency, and particularly in the north Galway area, we are facing a tsunami of wind energy developments. These are in communities such as Killimordaly, Clonberne, Barnaderg, Shancloon and Laurclavagh to name but a few, and there would be in excess of 150 turbines if all of the various projects at various stages of development go ahead. It is safe to say that north County Galway would be totally unrecognisable if this were allowed to happen. These are turbines that are 185 m high. The 2006 wind energy guidelines were brought forward when turbines were a fraction of that size. They are totally out of date and do not protect communities from these industrial-sized developments. My constituents are having their lives turned upside down with these developments being landed on their doorsteps. It is important to say they are in favour of renewable energy but they want to see it done right. The Government has done nothing. It has sat on its hands for years. The failure to bring forward updated guidelines to protect communities has been shameful. We do not have adequate setback distances, noise protection, environmental protection or consultation. The Government has allowed a developer-led free for all, whereby they can land these developments wherever they want with no regard whatsoever for local communities. There is no meaningful consultation, engagement or consideration for the impact on the communities that will have to live with these developments. It is an absolute dereliction of duty by the Government. It is the same with solar energy. There is a very large project in Monivea and Abbeyknockmoy in my constituency. We do not have solar guidelines. There are also large gas plants proposed, and it is the same story for communities in Athenry and Portumna. Sinn Féin has continuously demanded and campaigned for the Government to produce guidelines that would ensure these developments were not landed on top of people's homes. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and, in particular, the former regional Independents, who were some the loudest critics of this in the previous Dáil but seem to have gone silent now, cannot continue to let everybody down. The Government is going to kick this to touch for 12 months. Obviously, there are flaws in the Bill, and Deputy Stanley has acknowledged this, but my fear is we will continue to hear excuses as to why new guidelines are not being brought forward. How many years has it been? It is almost 20 years since the 2006 guidelines. We continue to see grandstanding from Government TDs slamming the very same Government they are part of. It is time for the Government to stop abdicating its responsibilities, step up to the plate, stop hiding and get new guidelines in place.

Sentiment score: 0.01