Mr. Peter Smith:

The Senator asked a specific question about mapping and population and the constraint of 1,000 people in a population. EirGrid must use this as a constraint, but it does not take into account smaller villages. I had to ask about the population of Faugheen and do a head count because it is not listed by the local authority. This feeds into the differences between the development plans and mapping processes of various local authorities, and as a result it is a common problem. The same problem is faced by the next village along from us, where it is proposed to go within 100 metres or 150 metres of a national school and an old people's home. The village is barely even a speck on the map and because a population of 1,000 is the constraint, EirGrid is not required to be concerned and thinks it is open countryside. As far as we can see, EirGrid has not bothered to look and it should be required to do so. As far as we are aware, we are listed as a village in the county development plan and it could have looked there.