Mr. Fintan Slye:

The Deputy asked a question about the total cost of the Grid25 programme, which fell from €4 billion in 2008 to €3.2 billion in 2011 and is now in a range of between €2.7 billion and €3.9 billion. This reduction reflects the decrease in the underlying projections for electricity demand until 2025 and beyond and the potential to use advanced technology to maximise the use of additional infrastructure. The range in cost figures is due to the fact that for many of the projects we have not determined what will be the choice of technology. Therefore, if the more expensive technology is chosen, the figure will move towards the upper end of the range.

The Deputy also asked a question about the international expert panel and how the multiple of three in terms of costs related to EirGrid's higher projected costs for the North-South interconnector. The reason the panel and EirGrid arrived at different costs was that two methodologies were used to produce the figures. I do not disagree with the findings of the international panel of experts which benchmarked broadly similar projects and arrived at an estimate of three times the cost of overgrounding. It used, if one likes, a top-down approach, whereas EirGrid took a bottom-up approach involving an engineering analysis and the identification of a route. We costed the route and all of the individual components and produced a higher figure for overall costs. The difference in the two figures can be attributed to the methodology and approaches employed. I hope that explains the difference.

The Deputy also asked about working with the National Roads Authority. When EirGrid is examining the options for routing overhead transmission lines or underground cables, we consider how best to route them. For example, the underground cable for the east-west interconnector, a 500 MW interconnector, uses existing roads from Rush beach to Woodlands station. Typically, it is better to use second class roads than motorways because they do not need to be closed and the works can be accommodated.

For the North-South interconnector, the best option we identified was to use agricultural land owing to a much larger land use requirement for the project. We work with the National Roads Authority and examine options alongside motorways. However, the routing principles for transport infrastructure along motorways tend to be different from those for transmission lines. We consider all of these issues. The key factor is that when one is examining routes for an overhead transmission line, one is trying to mitigate the visual impact and the proximity to houses and community facilities. In Ireland there is a large number of one-off houses and we try to keep as far away from them as possible when routing a transmission line. While EirGrid works with local authorities and the NRA on routing, placement alongside roads is not always a viable option.