I welcome the Bill and the emphasis it places on safety and prevention. This legislation is incredibly important. As we know, there have been many very serious and tragic explosions here and, indeed, internationally. Some of these explosions have resulted in the loss of life, such as the Creeslough tragedy in County Donegal. My thoughts and prayers are with the families affected in relation to it. This would obviously provide a statutory duty to ensure gas infrastructure is designed, built and maintained in a way that reduces the risk leading to fires and explosions. We in Aontú will certainly be supporting this legislation. I also have concerns in relation to gas being used for the generation of electricity. What appears to be happening in some parts of the country is that energy infrastructure is being developed in order to supply the shortage of energy in other parts of the country. Data centres along the east coast, for example, are putting enormous pressure on the grid. As a result, we are seeing a rapid and intense number of planning applications for gas-powered electricity generators, solar farms and wind turbines. Why should the west be sacrificed for this? Our infrastructure and beauty are being sacrificed without any proper planning regulation or oversight. I wish to highlight a serious issue in the Dáil. My colleague in Aontú, Luke Silke from Tuam, County Galway, has been working diligently on this issue. He has outlined serious concerns. What appears to be happening is that we have a bizarre situation where two people employed in a company called MKO, which was in charge of submitting planning applications on behalf of wind farm companies to Galway County Council and An Coimisiún Pleanála, have now left that company and have begun work in An Coimisiún Pleanála and Galway County Council’s planning department. It is most extraordinary and incredibly serious. I raise the matter to seek assurances. Two former employees of the firm MKO are now working as planners in Galway County Council and An Coimisiún Pleanála, respectively.
Sentiment score: 0.09
MKO is the consultant representing four companies seeking to construct wind farms in Belclare, Cooloo, Clonberne and Killimordaly.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We can see from the documents on the website of An Coimisiún Pleanála that, on 19 November 2020 during the pre-application consultation phase of one of the proposed development sites in Galway, a meeting took place between the prospective applicant, the design team and Galway County Council. A certain individual is listed as present at that meeting representing the wind farm company. Luke Silke has declared and shown me documents that this individual is now working for An Coimisiún Pleanála. Is there not a huge conflict of interest in this regard? In further documents, we can see that a separate individual was working for MKO-----
Sentiment score: 0.15
The point I am making-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
Okay. I am happy to share this with the Minister of State after my contribution. The point I am making is that there are individuals who, on the one hand, worked for the consultancy aspect or, essentially, the wind farm companies and have now gone on to work in local authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála. In this instance, the same individual who worked on a planning application is now working within the local authority and adjudicating on that same wind farm application. There is a huge conflict of interest here. I am raising it to highlight this issue and seek assurances that it should not be allowed to happen. I am seeking that the Government puts these applications in County Galway on hold until we ensure that due process is adhered to and there is no conflict of interest in relation to these wind farms.
Sentiment score: 0.40