Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Like my fellow Deputies, I appreciate being given the chance to speak and it is good that the Minister is here. I have been in the Dáil for three years but I have not enjoyed anything as much as the meeting we had last week in committee.

We know plans for Ireland's energy over the next 20 years must be put in place and we cannot depend on oil any longer. That we are in a position to provide so much energy of our own, and even become an exporter of energy, is crucial to the programme set in front of us by the Minister. The last comment I made to the Minister at our meeting asked him to take control of this issue as a Minister outside the three counties who knows there are 20 other programmes of this type to go into place. Neither the Minister nor any other Deputy wants what we have in our counties.

EirGrid has not been straight with the people and it has tried to railroad us. Our local Minister spoke last week for votes and was not very genuine about the matter. It is only three months since he told the people in County Meath, when they first went to him, that this matter would never even be discussed in the Dáil or at Cabinet level. He was wrong and it was wrong of him just to go for votes last week when he spoke to the Sunday Business Post. It was a stupid action and the people of Meath definitely did not fall for it.

I will back the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to the hilt and he has the full backing of the Irish people for his programme. However, he should not try to put it through without giving us a proper price. Everyone knows it is not a case of €1.8 billion versus €180 million. ESB International carried out its own study on the matter and somebody should look at it. The people employed by ESB International are quite surprised at the new technology that will help to bring down the cost of this project.

Before the people descend on this city in their thousands, the Minister should give them what they are entitled to, a price on overground versus underground projects. He can then sit down with these people, and as I previously stated, he will be pleasantly surprised by the co-operation he receives. If the Minister does not do this, we will still be looking for oil at $150 a barrel ten years down the road.

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