John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have to suggest respectfully that Eirgrid does not uphold standards and best international practice and neither has An Bord Pleanála, even on Mr. O’Connor’s watch. The period from 2000 to 2011 saw some of the worst planning excesses that ever blighted our towns and cities. If the Financial Regulator was asleep at the wheel so too was An Bord Pleanála as the planning regulator. I cannot believe that we built a motorway the length of the country, all the way from Dublin to Cork and did not even put a toilet or a filling station on it, and that is regarded as exemplary practice and planning. Now we have to go back and undo that harm.

Does Mr. O’Connor have an open mind? I do not know why Eirgrid wants to double the capacity of the grid. What are the grounds for that? Does it expect an economic boom that no-one else knows about? We need to upgrade and strengthen the grid but not to double its capacity for a country of 4 million. This is not Germany. I believe this is a Trojan horse for private wind farm developers.

I was glad that Mr. O'Connor said that he would not like to live beside a pylon or I presume a turbine. Will he commit, if he takes up the post, despite the reservations expressed by many sitting on this committee, to subjecting Eirgrid to an objective and independent review, feasibility study, audit and cost-benefit analysis, taking into account that he accepts, which Eirgrid has not done to date, that were he in proximity to any of these monstrosities it would devalue his home? That must be taken into account and not just brushed aside.