Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Mar 1999

Vol. 501 No. 4

Written Answers. - Electricity Generation.

Austin Deasy

Question:

44 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of wind farms for the generation of electricity that have been granted planning permission; and if his attention has been drawn to the consistent opposition there is to these projects in certain areas. [3743/99]

Austin Deasy

Question:

103 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of planning applications received by the authorities for the operation of wind farms over the past five years; the number approved; and the number refused. [4777/99]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 103 together.

Extensive statistics on the operation of the planning system are published annually by my Department and are available in the Oireachtas Library for the years up to 1997. Summary statistics are similarly published on a quarterly basis. The statistics are not compiled on a basis that allows identification of either applications for or grants of planning permission in respect of wind farms. However, in reviewing the scope and content of planning statistics now collected, my Department will consider seeking the type of statistics referred to in the question.

I am aware that wind farm developments have attracted opposition. My Department published guidelines on wind farm development for the guidance of planning authorities, developers and the general public in September 1996. The guidelines identify relevant planning and land use issues which planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála should have regard to in considering an application for planning permission or an appeal for a wind farm. They also provide guidance on how wind energy should be dealt with in the preparation of development plans. The guidelines also highlight a number of important aspects to be borne in mind in processing development proposals, including pre-planning discussions, visual impact, noise and the need to take into consideration the impact which a wind farm would have on the ecology, archaeology, geology and heritage of an area.

The guidelines are also intended to facilitate implementation of Government policy in relation to the development of renewable sources of energy. This is of particular relevance in the context of climate change, where more use of alternative sources of energy can play a role in national and international efforts to tackle the problem of CO2 emissions, the dominant greenhouse gas implicated in climate change.