Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Planning and Development Act 2024 replaces the ministerial guidelines with national planning statements. The existing section 28 guidelines, including the 2006 wind energy guidelines, remain in force until replaced. The Department of Climate, Communications and the Environment, as the lead policy Department for renewable energy, supports the development of the national planning statement. That will include environmental reporting, public consultation, EU obligations, and matters such as setback distances, noise and shadow flicker. A focused review of the wind energy development guidelines is informing the new national planning statement. That national planning statement will address noise, setback distances, shadow flicker, community obligations and dividends, and grid connections. A strategic environmental assessment and public consultation will be carried out in line with EU requirements. That is currently under way. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-13