Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be part of this process of engagement with the chairman-designate. I welcome our guest and I thank him for his efforts to answer the questions from members. However, his answers to some of the questions leave more questions unanswered. I note he has a very interesting career roadmap charted through his career in various Departments and in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in particular. To quote himself, he says he was able to persuade the Government that it would be better to assign the functions of setting up a new strategic infrastructural consent body. This was then tucked in nicely under the wing of An Bord Pleanála and he was happy to be there for 11 or 12 years. I do not question his professional qualifications but I question his role in advising at a very senior level in the Department. He has been honest and bold enough to say here that he was able to persuade the Government. He is obviously a very influential person in that he was able to persuade the then Government to assign this function. Us lesser mortals have to apply to the county council and if we fail there, we must apply to An Bord Pleanála.

I have been aghast on several occasions to see a report from an official of An Bord Pleanála who examined a file and inspected a building but whose report was overturned by An Bord Pleanála - turned upside down. Yet, Mr. O'Connor says he has the utmost confidence in the board but I do not have the utmost confidence in An Bord Pleanála. It pays planners to examine objectively planning proposals and the situation on the ground and then their reports are rubbished much of the time because the board decides to act in a certain way. Mr. O'Connor was in charge of the board so I level those charges at his good self in his previous role up to 2011.

Looking at the new situation, how can the people have faith in this process when we do not have that strategic infrastructure board separate from An Bord Pleanála? It is now under An Bord Pleanála. Mr. O'Connor knows every nook and cranny in An Bord Pleanála - God bless him for that - and what better person for EirGrid to have. He states he has distanced himself from the appointment process. The taxpayer will be paying the money for whatever role Mr. O'Connor has. He said that An Bord Pleanála took into account the local development plans and EU plans on strategic infrastructure. When I was a member of the local authority in south Tipperary, we designated parts of south Tipperary as being unsuitable for wind energy. Certain wind energy firms appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála and drove a coach and four through the decision - under the stewardship of Mr. O'Connor. The planning permission was granted, despite our county development plan. It allowed for wind developments in Dualla, in view of the Rock of Cashel and a sub-station, against the express wishes of the south Tipperary county development plan and many local residents. Therefore, I have no faith in his replies to previous questions.

Mr. O'Connor faces a large problem when taking up this job, as he does not know what the pay is and he has not asked about it. I am glad that he can be in such a comfortable position at his stage in life. I am not being ageist, but I would have preferred a younger man with an independent perspective of this sensitive issue. Mr. O'Connor has had a good career in the public service and it is time that he was thinking about the green grass rather than going on to new fields.

What is Mr. O'Connor's opinion of EirGrid's spokesperson perpetuating a lie on RTE's "Prime Time"? Mr. Fintan Slye stated that EirGrid had advertised in the Dungarvan Leader, which it clearly had not. He admitted later in the studio that it had not. That lie was put out over the airwaves to a large number of people. There is no faith in EirGrid's sham, token consultation. This day last week was the closing date, but it was extended for five weeks to 7 January. When I welcomed that extension, the Taoiseach told me in the Dáil Chamber that the Minister had instructed EirGrid. The previous week, the Minister stated that he had nothing to do with EirGrid and could not interfere in any form. It suits them when they want to lie on one side of the bed or the other.

There is no faith in the process because of untruths and spin. Deputy Ann Phelan mentioned connectivity in our town of Clonmel as regards strategic infrastructure. We were told that our line would not benefit whatsoever and could not be used, but the project will go straight across our Golden Vale into Wexford and John Bull's country to meet commitments under the Kyoto Agreement on fossil fuel emissions, etc. It is a naked rape of our countryside for big business. We have had enough of that. Mr. O'Connor saw enough of it. He was in enough bodies to have shouted "Stop". I do not know whether he did over the years at the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, DDDA, and other places.

We have had enough of career civil servants and others plundering our country. Mr. O'Connor is not fit for the job. I am opposing his nomination. It is not personal, but this is a poacher becoming a game keeper. His career has been a merry-go-round as far as I am concerned. He is from the south of the country like myself, but it is time that he retired back there and stood with the people instead of milking the system.