Green Party Energy Spokesperson, Ossian Smyth, has welcomed the proposed €8 billion investment which will create 2,000 new jobs in wind farms designed to export power into the UK market.

"There is a real opportunity to turn our comparative advantage in wind power into a major new export industry to the rest of Europe. This is a similar moment to the 1950s when T. K. Whitaker saw that we could transform our economy through trade into the exporting industries we have today. We need to get it right.

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"The Government needs to secure European funding to help pay for the two new interconnectors to France and Britain that are already included in the pan European transmission network plan. We also need to agree fair market regulations with the UK Government so that the Irish public benefits fully from the integration of our two markets," he continued.

"There are a number of private companies looking to avail of a similar opportunity to that announced by Element Power today, but we need to make sure that in every case there is also a local community gain from these projects. By putting aside a percentage of the revenue or the equity from the wind turbines for local gain and by making sure they are located a suitable distances from homes, there is no reason why this should not be a win-win opportunity for the country and for local communities."

(CD)