There is a major wind farm just above my hometown in Buncrana. Recently, I drove up the hill and observed that half of the turbines were actually turned off. When I made inquiries as to why that was the case, apparently the electricity infrastructure just is not there to take the power from them. It is absolutely extraordinary. These wind turbines are there a very long time. I just have to ask: what the hell is going on? Apparently, a significant percentage of the wind turbines that are dotted all across County Donegal do not actually feed into the grid. This is just crazy. Then there is a direct link between this failure to plan properly in terms of infrastructure and in terms of what people pay. People are being crippled here. The Government knows this. Homeowners and small businesses are being absolutely crippled with electricity costs. We know that wind energy plays a critical role in reducing those costs. It is important the amendments to this legislation put forward by Sinn Féin are taken on board by the Government. We need full accountability here. We need a direct link between investment from the State into the ESB infrastructure and reduced costs for homeowners. People are being fleeced. We used to have the cheapest electricity in Europe. That was when we owned our own infrastructure and the company that charged the bills. We handed it over and wrecked the model we had. What is worse is that the wind turbines we have put all across the country are not feeding into the grid. We are not getting the full benefit of them to reduce costs. This investment has to be real, with real accountability and a real plan.

Sentiment score: -0.06