Galway Bay fm newsroom - An Bord Pleanala has refused to grant substitute consent for the controversial Derrybrien Windfarm in South Galway.
A massive landslide occured at the site in 2003, which caused significant damage to land, property, roads and rivers.
Since 2019, the state is paying €15 thousand in EU fines every day for failing to adhere to proper standards.
In October 2003, during the construction phase at the 70 turbine development, a massive landslide occurred that displaced half a million cubic metres of peat and caused significant damage.
Since late 2019, the state is paying €15 thousand a day in fines over the failure to carry out an adequate environmental impact assessment.
More than €17m has been paid to date.
Late last year, a report for the European Commission found the stability of the land where the landslide occured had not been properly checked since 2005.
The report was also broadly critical of a retrospective application for substitute consent made by the ESB, which owns the wind farm, to An Bord Pleanala.
The planning authority has now refused that application.
An Bord Pleanala says remedial works carried out since the 2003 landslide did not fully mitigate the significant effects caused to the environment.
