Aontú TD for Mayo, Paul Lawless, together with party leader Peadar Tóibín, today introduced legislation in the Dáil seeking an increased mandatory set-back distance between wind turbines and houses. He told the government chief whip that his bill would render many of the proposed developments in County Mayo “impossible in their current form”.
Speaking today, Deputy Lawless said: “In recent months, plans have been revealed for eight wind farms across the county of Mayo. In recent years windfarms have been planned, proposed or developed across my constituency – Aghagower, Ballycastle, Bangor Erris, Geesala, Crossmolina and Mayo Abbey. In Mayo Abbey, the proposal consists of seven turbines, each 160 metres tall. These turbines would be taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York or Big Ben in London. The blades measure 136 metres in diameter; laid flat on the ground, a single rotor would not fit within Croke Park”.
Deputy Lawless continued: “There are a number of large data centres in the East of the Country. These are placing huge pressure on the national grid. In 2024, Data Centres accounted for 22% of all electricity used in Ireland — more than all urban homes combined. Data centres pay significantly less than ordinary households for their electricity, while regular households pay the highest electricity prices in Europe. The west of Ireland is being targeted for a concentration of wind farm developments in order to feed electricity to the east. Because the grid is not able to handle the volume of electricity produced, on windy days the turbines have to be turned off. When they are turned off the companies are paid compensation by the State – with taxpayers money – for the electricity they are NOT producing. It is a cash cow for the companies”.
“My bill here today seeks to increase the set back distance between turbines and houses. Aontú wants to ensure that turbines can not be located close to homes. We want to make sure that a turbine must be at least ten times its own height away from the nearest home. This would mean in the case of Mayo Abbey, the turbines 160 meters tall would have to be 1.6 kilometres away from the nearest house. It would render the project impossible in Mayo Abbey. Our bill also wants to bring power back to the local authorities. Right now windfarms of a certain voltage or size are considered “Strategic Infrastructure Developments” and as such are allowed to apply straight to An Comisiún Pleanála without ever having to apply to the Council for planning permission. This is wrong. For well over ten years the government has been promising updated guidelines on windfarms. But they keep kicking the can down the road. I’m giving them a chance to put their votes where their mouths are with this bill and vote to pass it through the house”, concluded Lawless.
