Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this issue, the 500 kV interconnector power line from Meath to Tyrone. This initiative has been under way for a long time and I am glad we have reached this stage where we have an expert commission's report and a report by the Oireachtas committee. I have tabled this issue to discover what the next steps are with this project.

This project has been under way since March 2007, although it was kept quiet by those in power before the last general election. It was given the go ahead without any proper consideration of alternatives. The nod was given to drive this connector using overhead power lines regardless of that being right or wrong. That is not acceptable.

I will use my time today to deal with EirGrid's attitude from the very start of this development. Its attitude was arrogant and out of order when dealing with people on a sensitive planning issue. I am disappointed a semi-State body would take that approach. I was also disappointed the then Minister did not have an open mind on this and was not willing to discuss it. There were many questions at the time.

We have come a long way in recent years and we have more answers, with the Oireachtas committee working on it in February. There were many good hearings, with all sides getting a chance to discuss the issues at a proper forum. That happened on foot of the report of the commission, which was published in January, and I thank the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources for allowing the commission and starting this initiative. I did not have faith in previous reports but most people I spoke to had full faith in the experts picked by the Minister. They gave us a report that addressed technicality, feasibility and cost and that gave us an opportunity to have a real look at this with an open mind. During many of the meetings I have had with the Minister in the last year or so, he has shown an open mind on this. The attitude of EirGrid has also improved, which probably reflects the thoughts of the Minister of the day. That does not, however, make up for the sins of the past and how it was dealt with from the very outset.

The report of the expert commission clearly stated that it is technically possible to go underground with this interconnector. Reliability is still a concern for some but all are agreed it is technically possible. There is still a dispute over costs but at the first meeting I had with EirGrid officials, which Deputy Shane McEntee and Deputy Simon Coveney also attended, I was told this could not be put underground, that it was not possible. Since then I, along with my other colleagues, Deputies Regina Doherty, Heather Humphreys, Seán Conlan, Ray Butler and Joe O'Reilly, have met EirGrid and we were told it would cost up to 40 times as much. Since then, EirGrid has met people who have told the company it would be 20 times the cost, ten times the cost or eight times the cost. It has changed so much that we are now debating two or three times the cost, and everyone accepts this can happen. There has been a great improvement but what happened was disgraceful. The unnecessary hassle, concern and cost to the communities we represent in Meath, Cavan and Monaghan was unacceptable. Those communities had to fight a State organisation that was up to the job and did not check all alternatives.

We are further on now with more information. I thank the NEPP on behalf of the Meath and Monaghan anti-pylon campaigns for all the work it did with us as representatives to develop our thoughts on this and bring it to a stage where a proper report by international experts was commissioned. It brings clarity to many issues. The experts were clear that the high voltage direct current, HVDC, line was worth looking at. In the early discussions, everyone ruled that out but the experts were very generous in saying it was due to improvements in technology, offering EirGrid an opportunity to excuse its behaviour. That HVDC line was ruled out five years ago but now we know it is possible. The debate continues about its reliability and the merging of areas but we can work on that.

It is to be hoped we can use the reports by the commission and the committee to develop this further. We must recognise the work that was done and at high cost to some involved in the process. That is not the way it should be. If any further planning applications are submitted in the years ahead, there must be a proper debate on them.

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