Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would be obvious from those remarks that there would be a perception that Mr. O'Connor would be useful to get this project over the line, if I can put it that way.

It could be argued that the 11 years during which Mr. O'Connor served as chairman of An Bord Pleanála were the 11 years that led to the country's current downfall, from a building point of view. To borrow a phrase used at the weekend, we went from boom to Bert. What legacy issues does Mr. O'Connor see and what regrets does he have in that regard?

I also wish to raise the concern about lack of information. When there is a lack of information, a vacuum is created. That has happened on this matter. There is no meaningful consultation. The reason for that is that the vast majority of people only became aware of this matter in the last number of weeks, even though EirGrid would argue that it opened offices 18 months ago and held a number of meetings. However, until lines appeared on a map, nobody was aware of the issue. That is where we have a problem at present.

I have a final point and Mr. O'Connor can correct me if I am wrong. During his tenure in An Bord Pleanála there was one good thing from the Celtic tiger economy, the motorway structure. This might not have been in his remit but there is a great deal of talk at present to the effect that consideration should have been given to putting the lines under the motorway or beside it at the time. It would have been appropriate. Was there any formal thinking at the time about taking that option?