WRITTEN QUESTION E-0795/04 by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Derrybrien wind farm bogslide.
Date: 2004-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Ireland, area management, environmental impact, impact study, natural disaster, wind energy

C 88 E/226

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

for which designation is sought or from use of the medicinal product for another condition. Article 1 of
the Regulation is clear: incentives are provided for research, development, authorisation and placing on the
market of medicinal products.

(1) OJ C 178, 29.7.2003.

(2004/C 88 E/0229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0795/04

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Derrybrien wind farm bogslide

Further to the Commission’s answer to my question P-3350/03 (1), the reports that were commissioned by
just published, confirm the
ESB subsidiary, Hibernian Wind Power Ltd, and Galway County Council,
responsibility of the wind farm project for the major landslide, and also for several earlier small ones. They
identify many areas of the site that are similarly at risk, thereby showing in particular that a landslide
directly above the village cannot be excluded due to low stability levels. However, the two reports pay
scant attention to the impact of dynamic forces on the peat, and most of the safety analysis appears to be
based on static loadings only. Thus the effects of heavy truck and crane movements on floating roads,
as well as those of explosives used on site, are effectively ignored. Furthermore, safety as examined is more
concerned about on site risks, not off site. These reports are cross-referenced, and show a remarkable
consistency, and it is known that the two sets of consultants met on this question, raising further doubts
about their real independence.

To help secure the future of wind energy in Ireland, will the Commission now insist that the planning
process be undertaken from the beginning, based on a proper and complete EIS relating to the actual
project proposed, and also require that any continuation be conditional on a fresh planning approval? Will
the Commission assist the locals in commissioning a truly independent study of the project and its impact,
as they have proposed, with the primary aim of avoiding further environmental damage and injury or even
loss of life, which would surely arise from a landslide above Derrybrien village?

(1) OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004, p. 528.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2004)

The Commission confirms that, in the framework of several complaints, it has received copies of the two
reports referred to by the Honourable Member. It also confirms that it has received further extensive
documentation relating to the various development consent procedures that have been followed in
connection with the wind-farm project at Derrybrien. Pending the conclusion of its examination of these
documents, it would be premature for the Commission to comment in detail on the appropriate next steps
to take.

(2004/C 88 E/0230)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0798/04

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Amfilokhia and the Ramsar Convention

(11 March 2004)

According to complaints from local organisations, 120 eucalyptus trees over one hundred years old have
been cut down at the entrance to the town of Amfilokhia in Arta, following a decision taken by the