Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 March 2014
374. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the position regarding permission given by his predecessors to wind power developers on the Kish bank, the Bray bank, the Codling bank and the Arklow wind park; and if these consents are subject to the preparation of environmental impact statements or the recently published offshore development renewable energy plan. [11639/14]
View answerForeshore leases were granted on 11 January 2002 and 15 November 2005 for the Arklow Wind Park and for Codling Wind Park (known as Codling I) respectively. Both of the applications were considered and granted in accordance with the regulatory and legislative framework in place at the time. Furthermore, both involved environmental impact statements and public consultation, and they were subject to comprehensive assessment by a multi-disciplinary team of experts who advised the then Minister.
In addition to these two leases, my Department has an application on hand for an extension to Codling I. A foreshore lease application for the Codling Extension project was lodged in 2009. This proposed development is contiguous to the already consented wind farm (Codling I), approximately 13 km off the Wicklow coast. An environmental impact statement accompanied the application but no assessment or public consultation has been undertaken to date.
Pending publication of the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) the consideration of applications for such foreshore leases has been placed on hold. My Department is now reviewing this and other applications in light of the OREDP and the associated Strategic Environmental and Appropriate Assessments.
