Renewable Energy Generation
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Noel McCarthy (FG), Cork East

I thank the Minister for his response. Proposals to prime agricultural land for renewable energy proposals have become common in recent years. Rural communities such as those in my constituency of Cork East are seeing acreage that long provided quality food produce being changed to acres of solar panels in a very short period. Development permission for up to 40 years sees traditional rural communities transformed for decades on the basis of one application. I appreciate that an increased provision of renewable energy sources is needed nationally. However, we have a particular problem developing in Cork East given our proximity to the grid, and limited attention is being paid to the quality of land being used. As such, is the Minister considering any further measures to introduce a land classification system similar to what exists in the UK, which would see the most fertile agricultural land protected against renewable development?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24