Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will.

This country does not have a tradition of accountability. When people in important senior positions make grave and serious mistakes, which cost the taxpayer an awful lot of money, we are not great at removing them from their jobs and seeking accountability. Invariably, what happens is people move on from their roles and sometimes very significant golden handshakes and pensions arise. In the past, some people moved on to new positions and new roles, which was not right.

What was demonstrated in the case of Usk was a total lack of community engagement and an attempt by An Bord Pleanála, under Mr. O'Connor's chairmanship, to steam-roll a decision through. That does not fill me with any confidence. If Mr. O'Connor is to be chairman of EirGrid, he can multiply the Usk case by 1,000 if he is to take all the small close-knit communities which are genuinely concerned about the potential of pylons and high powered voltage lines going through their communities. I do not have any confidence that under Mr. O'Connor's chairmanship of EirGrid, the consultation process - we have heard plenty of concerns here about it - will be any way improved.