Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Francis O'Donnell:

There is no question about that. When a large power-generating plant is put into an upland catchment, as in the case the Deputy is talking about, it has to go through very tight and specific environmental guidelines. If the project gets across the line, sometimes there can be an accident after that, unfortunately. I agree with the Deputy, but the process is very stringent. In recent years, there have been a number of landslides which have focused people's minds even more on doing it better. One can never completely mitigate what could happen.