Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Would Mr. O'Connor not think that before a decision is made on a route, EirGrid would decide whether to put it overground or underground given that if it is going to put it overground, it might be looking for a different type of ground than if it was going underground? When people ask how much it would cost to put it overground on a chosen route, the answer would be different if EirGrid had made that decision before deciding the route. Obviously, if it is going to put it underground, it does not want to put it through limestone, which it might have to cut through, etc., and it might like to put it on ground that was easy to cut through.

I do not for one second believe there is any seriousness when it comes to consultation processes in this country. It is the standard decide, act and defend and EirGrid is in defend mode. On deciding whether to go overground or underground, does EirGrid not need to make that decision first?

Mr. O'Connor was asked whether people should be compensated if there are impacts. They should be compensated if there are impacts. Mr. O'Connor has already established that there are impacts because when asked if he would like to live beside a pylon, he said quite clearly that he would not. There are impacts because if I wanted to sell my house to Mr. O'Connor in the morning and there was a pylon beside it, he would not want to buy it, so already there is an impact. This is a public forum so everyone listening to him knows he believes there are obviously some sort of impacts.

What impacts does Mr. O'Connor think there are? Why would he not like to live beside a pylon? Will he explain in detail exactly why he would not like to live beside a pylon? Given that it will possibly be his job to convince us about something we do not want to be convinced about, I would like to know Mr. O'Connor's reasons for not wanting to live beside one of these pylons.

People in Ireland are sick of consultation that involves firing the arrow first and then drawing the target around it. We are sick of it and are not going to put up with it anymore. The sad thing is that there is now a big political circus around this. Apparently, an MEP, Mr. Jim Higgins, will solve it in Europe and Deputies will solve it here when, in fact, all it takes is a Government decision telling EirGrid to do what it should do, listen to the people and look for a route which is suitable and put this underground. In the meantime, can Mr. O'Connor tell me why he would not live beside a pylon because people will be very interested to hear the reason?