Banner image from sesssion Oireachtas.ie

25th November 2025: An Taisce Opening Statement on Planning Regulations for Solar Farms — Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage

An Taisce's representatives at the Committee pictured from right to left: Phoebe Duvall (Senior Planning and Environmental Policy Officer), Dr. Elaine McGoff (Head of Advocacy), Seán O’Callaghan (Planning and Environmental Policy Officer). 

To download the full statement, please click this link or the image below:

"We are in the midst of a serious climate and biodiversity crisis while also facing significant energy security concerns. Therefore, An Taisce is in principle very supportive of solar farm development that is fully compliant with our national, European and international legal obligations; and that recognises  the intertwined nature of the climate and biodiversity crises by avoiding particularly environmentally  sensitive areas and fully assessing and mitigating potential ecological impacts. Solar energy also needs to be developed on foot of detailed and inclusive forward planning. 

"Ireland has a target under the Climate Action Plan for delivering 8GW of solar energy by 2030. Teagasc estimate that we need up to 16,000 hectares of land for solar farms to achieve that target using large-scale solar arrays. While this is ultimately quite a small portion of the national land bank, we nevertheless need detailed and evidence-based forward planning to designate suitable areas for solar farms as part of a holistic and balanced land use strategy. We are now in a position where 2030 is looming, new planning provisions under the Recast Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) have been  brought in, increasing numbers of applications for solar farms are being made, but we still are lacking  a comprehensive national spatial plan for solar energy.

"REDIII requires national territory mapping to identify areas suitable for renewables and the designation of at least one Renewables Acceleration Area on foot of that. Based on the recent consultation on the national mapping, many counties currently have no spatial designations for solar, and where designations do exist, counties appear to be using different criteria. We need to ensure that there is consistency of approach here via transparent, evidence-based, nationally set criteria.

"This is particularly important when it comes to designating Renewables Acceleration Areas, which may be subject to truncated environmental assessments and the potential adverse environmental consequences of that. At the same time, the Revised National Planning Framework sets out regional renewable electricity capacity allocations and requires the Regional Assemblies to create delivery plans, including for each local authority."

Click here for full statement.