Government must fund State agencies to help meet green energy planning, says industry group

The Government must give An Bord Pleanála and other agencies cash to hire enough staff to ensure that the State hits its green energy targets, according to an industry body’s budget wish list.

State climate plans aim to generate 80 per cent of electricity used here from renewable sources by the end of the decade.

Industry lobby, Wind Energy Ireland, argues that Government must ensure that An Bord Pleanála, the Marine Area Regulatory Authority, National Parks and Wildlife Service and councils have the staff to cope with the likely extra demands on their services that will result.

The Planning and Development Bill’s proposed reforms of the system will “achieve little” without those resources, the organisation warns in its submission to Michael McGrath, the Minister for Finance, on October’s budget.

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He must ensure that the various agencies involved in planning have the funds to hire enough staff with the required expertise to handle applications from wind farms, the group adds.

By mid-July, “not a single onshore wind farm” had received permission from An Bord Pleanála since September 2022, the pre-budget document claims.

Wind Energy Ireland maintains that the Government should agree the staff numbers required with the relevant agencies and then approve the funding.

The group argues that Budget 2024 is the last chance to ensure that the State has the resources it needs to hit its 2030 green energy targets.

Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of Wind Energy Ireland, said the budget gave the Government the chance to give the planning system the resources it needed to ensure it deals quickly with renewable energy applications.

“We would welcome the opportunity to support the Government in examining ways to reduce the cost of developing renewable electricity and help drive energy bills down,” he added.