Mr. Fintan Slye:

My apologies to the committee. I will try to go through the presentation in as much detail as I can. Obviously, we will be happy to answer any question that may arise.

I propose to talk a little about EirGrid's role. I will then discuss the Grid25 programme, examine some of the emerging issues related to it and outline international practice. If there is time at the end of the meeting, I will be happy to take questions on anything included in the presentation or anything else members wish to talk about.

EirGrid is a semi-State company and its objective is to keep the lights on. We carry out that work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our control centres in Dublin and Belfast manage the job in a real-time environment. We also look to the future to make sure we have the necessary grid to ensure the lights will stay on ten, 20 or 30 years hence. That is important work.

Electricity is ubiquitous and an essential part of a modern economy and society.

A secure, reliable and affordable power supply is absolutely essential in a modern economy to support businesses, competitiveness and jobs. As we look to the future and consider the grid which will be necessary, where we identify a deficiency, we first consider the extent to which we can upgrade the grid using existing infrastructure. In this regard, we have a massive programme under way. Inevitably, sometimes we will need to build new infrastructure to cater for future needs. When we identify this need, we consider all of the options available, be they overhead or underground. We have no vested interest in a particular technology solution. We are looking for the right answer to fit future needs for all of the people of Ireland. That is our role and what we try to do.

The Grid25 programme is a strategy published in 2008 to consider future requirements. It includes massive investment in transmission infrastructure. The infrastructure is essential to ensure balanced regional development to support industry and jobs throughout the country. It is also essential to ensure a competitive market which will put downward pressure on prices. It will also ensure we facilitate meeting Ireland's target of 40% renewables by 2020. We have a huge natural resource in wind energy and set ourselves a target of 40% by 2020. To do this we must ensure we have the necessary infrastructure in place.

Grid25 is a significant investment of €3.2 billion over its term. It includes more than 200 projects throughout the country from the very small to the very large. It has been under way for a number of years, with a number of significant successes and projects delivered. As I mentioned, we look to upgrade existing infrastructure in the first instance. We have a programme to upgrade more than 2,000 km of transmission lines. To put this in scale, it is approximately one third of the existing transmission system which makes this a very significant upgrade programme.

We also have approximately 8 km of new transmission build. It is fair to say it is the large 400 kV projects outlined on the next slide which have generated significant interest throughout the country and in the committee. I will speak about the three 400 kV projects which are at different stages of development. We have been developing the North-South interconnector, linking county Meath to County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, for a number of years and it is in the final stages of preparation for a planning application which we hope to submit in early 2014.

The next project is Grid West which extends from Carrick on the River Shannon to western county Mayo and will significantly reinforce the grid in the west. It will also enable the harnessing of what is a very significant natural resource in wind energy on the western seaboard and getting it on the grid. We have identified a preferred corridor and are consulting people along the route. We hope to submit a planning application for the project at approximately the end of 2015. We have quite a way to go on this project.

The Grid Link project will extend from County Cork to County Wexford to County Kildare. It was launched in 2012 and we have spoken to people in the larger study area. Most recently, earlier this year we published a number of corridors which took into account the feedback we had received in the earlier consultation. The consultation period, at the request of the committee, has been extended and will close on 7 January 2014, after which we will reflect on all of the feedback and input we receive.

The next slide sets out the project development roadmap we have put in place for the development of transmission projects. We realised they were significant in terms of scale and scope and that it was important we set out how we would consult and engage with people. We set out the steps and analysis in which we would engage, the information we would make available, the opportunities for public consultation and the decision points along the way. We were very clear with people up-front about what the process would involve in the development of these projects. The consultation process and engagement are above and beyond anything put in place to date for an infrastructural project, be it roads or telecoms. Notwithstanding this, we recognise that there is a degree of concern about the information available and are always looking to improve. By way of illustration, the slide shows we have held more than 30 open days and have information offices in five locations. We have held public information events at marts and shopping malls. We have engaged with every local authority along the route. We continue to meet elected representatives, local councillors and community groups on an ongoing basis.

Notwithstanding that the consultation on this project is ongoing and will be until early January, we recognise a number of issues have been raised through the consultation which also appeared in some of the other projects. These are to do with health, undergrounding, visual impact, impact on property, community gain and the consultation process. I spoke a little about the consultation process and have a few slides on the health and undergrounding issues. I will speak about these issues because they have received the most attention. I will be happy to take questions on the other issues later.

We seek to mitigate visual impact through all of the work we do and engage on individual projects with all of the statutory bodies, including Fáilte Ireland which received media attention recently. We are also aware that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources are examining community gain proposals, of which we are very supportive.

In the interests of time I will discuss undergrounding and health, but I am happy to speak about the other issues. It is important to point out that the pylons do not create electric or magnetic fields. It is electricity which creates electric and magnetic fields. It is the same electricity around us every day in this room, our homes and our appliances which causes electric and magnetic fields. Because electricity is so ubiquitous in the world today and has been such an important part of the economy and society, it is one of the most studied health issues of our time. The wealth of studies do not indicate any cause and effect relationship with any health issue. The World Health Organization reviewed this issue and has a set of guidelines which outline the safe exposure limits and transmission is a factor of 50 below the safe exposure limits. The World Health Organization's guidelines have been reviewed by public health bodies throughout the world and endorsed by the European Commission and adopted in this country. We are 50 times below the limits set. These limits are set by bodies the sole objective of which is the protection of human health. The slide includes a quote from the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser. In 2007 a report was published by the Department with responsibility for energy matters and which was responsible for this issue at the time. It was reviewed in 2010 by the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser and the quote is taken from the paper published as part of the review. It states it is simply not possible for the level of energy associated with power lines to cause cancer.

I have pulled out a graph which is part of our communication on electromagnetic fields for anyone who has seen the booklet we produced to inform people.

The top line shows the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection's guideline which is the World Health Organization's guideline of 100 µT. The exposure to various appliances and transmission technologies is shown further down the side. The one at the bottom is for the underground cable which comes in at half of the guideline figure, whereas transmission lines come in at 50 times lower than the guideline. These international guidelines are based on a large body of scientific evidence that is continually reviewed and updated by all of the various organisations involved.

Turning to the question of overhead versus underground, ours is a State company which has no vested interest in a particular technological solution. We consider all of the available options to find the best solution to meet a particular need of the grid and Ireland Inc. In 400 kV alternating current, AC, backbone transmission projects it is possible to underground short lengths along the route. We determine whether doing so is appropriate, as a cost is added and reliability is degraded to some extent. For significant distances of more than 20 km or 30 km, it is not possible to underground AC transmission systems. A different technology - high voltage direct current, HVDC - would be required. We are intimately familiar with it, as it is the technology we delivered for the east-west interconnector. Using this technology involves inserting converter stations that are larger than Croke Park's pitch and nine storeys tall. Energy is converted from the AC grid to DC and shipped via cable to another location were a second converter station is required. It is also worth pointing out that tapping into the energy along the route is difficult and expensive. As such, it does not support the communities and regions along the way by providing them with access to a reliable power source or reinforcing their grids. Notwithstanding this, we have used this technology. The HVDC interconnector with the United Kingdom is one of the most advanced in the world and won engineering project of the year this year.

We conducted a detailed study of the cost of undergrounding the North-South interconnector project. This was followed by a review and a study commissioned by the Government and comprising an independent panel of international experts that examined the cost of undergrounding. The panel concluded that the cost would be a factor of three.

The graph on the next page shows the European transmission system and is drawn from readily available statistics. The majority of the existing grid is overhead AC transmission lines, as is the majority in the planned development, some 97% combined. People often quote Denmark as an example of what can be done in undergrounding. It took a decision to underground its lower voltage transmission network, 132 kV and 150 kV. As these lines reach the end of their economic lives in 2040, it will replace them with similar voltage underground cables. However, it is placing its 400 kV AC circuit overhead. Overhead transmission is the standard technology used across the world, both in terms of what has been deployed to date and what is planned for the future.

Ours is a semi-State company with the role of providing a safe, secure, reliable, economic and efficient grid, having due regard to the environment. Grid25 is a significant investment in the infrastructure underpinning society and the economy. We recognise that public consultation is essential to its successful delivery. We understand a number of issues are emerging from that consultation process and we are listening to and aware of them. However, the process is ongoing and will be until early in the new year, at which point we will take all of the input and feedback on the specific questions that we asked and any other issue that arose about the project's elements or our approach to same. We ask people to raise these points as part of the consultation. We will address all issues raised with us in a fair, balanced, open and transparent way. We encourage people to engage in the consultation process and provide feedback. A number of key themes are already visible, notwithstanding the fact that the consultation process has not closed. We will seek to address them quickly following the closure of the process on 7 January.

I thank committee members for their attention and hope I have not taken too much of their time. I apologise for the delay in supplying the presentation. My colleagues and I are happy to answer members' questions or address issues they wish to raise.