The Government has deferred a decision to issue new guidelines for wind farms following a European Court ruling which imposed duties on the State to inform the public fully.

According to today’s Irish Times, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Denis Naughten will bring a memo to Cabinet tomorrow asking for a deferral on the guidelines.

The new guidelines will lay down rules on how far wind turbines should be set back from residential dwellings, on noise aspects, as well as light and shadow “flicker” from the rotating blades.

In late October, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a ruling that the Walloon government in Belgium acted unlawfully when it created a sectoral policy aimed at facilitating the deployment of wind energy without properly informing the general public.

In light of the decision, Minister Naughten is understood to be of the view that the guidelines cannot now be published by the end of the year, as envisaged.

Instead, a further process of public consultation will be required before the guidelines are issued.

The Minister’s legal advice is that the European Court of Justice judgement requires the public to be fully informed about the guidelines and their implications.