Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

The issue of the erection of overhead power lines is causing huge angst across the country. There is a planned overhead power line in Ratheniska in County Laois, for example, causing concerns. If a power line is over 15 km, it is mandatory for an environmental impact statement to be provided by the developer. What are the Minister of State's views on undergrounding electrical power lines? The report commissioned last July by her Government colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, on undergrounding power cables concluded that the cost of undergrounding is almost equal to that of erecting overhead power lines.

In Europe, only 450 km of overhead lines are currently being constructed while up to 700 km of electrical lines are being put underground. European electricity suppliers are going the way of undergrounding.

Putting in place overhead cables also causes delays in the delivery of infrastructure projects. We saw that recently in Offaly where there was a dispute over an overhead power line going through a grove of trees which took a long time to resolve. Until now the argument against undergrounding was that it was too costly and could not be done. The report commissioned by the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, claims undergrounding can be done at the same cost as overhead cables, be quicker and a lot less hassle.

See this speech in context