Peter Roche: Where are the wind energy guidelines?
Peter Roche asks the Taoiseach for an update on the delayed wind and solar planning guidelines, promised for spring but not yet published. He raises concerns about the planning statement process, competing departmental workloads, and the need to balance energy sources to reduce household costs.
Question raised
Peter Roche renewed his request in the Dail for publication of the planning statement that will replace previous wind energy guidelines, citing specific concerns about Torringtall 185 metre turbines and solar planning. He notes the original commitment that the guidelines would appear in spring and asks when they can now be expected.
Political and administrative context
Roche outlines the work underway between the Department of Energy Climate and the Department of Housing and points to other major files they are handling: exempted developments, rural housing guidelines and short-term lets. He says these workloads help explain the delay but do not remove the need for clarity and timely publication.
Why it matters to households
Roche links the delay to the wider energy discussion, noting a recent allocation of 750 million to help people with rising energy bills caused by imported fossil fuels. He argues that renewables offer a pathway to permanently lower costs, but that achieving this requires balanced planning and a public debate about trade-offs and timelines.
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Thank you, Ciann Comhairle. Taoiseach, I want to raise once again the question of the wind energy guidelines. Last year, when I came into this chamber, I was anxious to understand when the planning guidelines would be updated, and both for wind energy, the Torringtall 185 metre high turbines, and of course the solar energy as well. And there was a promise or a commitment given that the planning guidelines would be updated and they would be published, if you like, in the spring of this year. Now spring has just slipped away, so I'm anxious to understand when we can anticipate that they will be published. I think the work is underway between the Department of Energy Climate and the Department of Housing in terms of a planning statement which has kind of replaced the format for guidelines. But remember that same department had to do the planning on exempted developments, which is quite a significant piece of work, also on rural housing guidelines, which is imminent, and on short-term lets as well. So there's a lot of work going on there. Now, I do think we need somewhat of a conversation and debate about energy, just to make the point generally, because we had to allocate 750 million a couple of weeks ago to help people pay for their energy costs because of the importation of fossil fuels and the credible rise in the prices that's impacting people. Renewables give us a pathway to reducing costs for everybody, and we just need to make sure that we get the balance right in terms of the different energy sources so that we can get costs down permanently for people. So that might involve trade-offs, but we can discuss that when the planning statement comes along. Thank you.
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