Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Private Members’ motion focuses on EirGrid’s pylon proposals. However, the major wind energy proposals are, of course, linked. While wind and wave energy projects represent a major opportunity, the main question is how we develop them. The idea of a ring main around the island has not been given the consideration it deserves. Such a ring main would lie offshore, which would bring obvious savings in that there would be no need for a land take. It would only require short land connections to the main onshore wind farms in the west and County Donegal. Offshore wind farms such as the one at the Kish, as well as other future offshore wind farms, present a potential link with wave energy facilities. That is where the big export possibilities lie into the future and where our natural advantages can be found, particularly on the Atlantic coast. Such a ring main offers a potential link for wave energy facilities currently envisaged on the west coast, with the national testing centre offshore near Belmullet. Existing power stations such as Moneypoint, Aghada and Poolbeg are also on the coast, as are all of our cities and areas of high consumption. Accordingly, the ring main could solve many future planning problems.

When undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of any proposal, all aspects, including loss of visual amenity, potential health and safety implications, obsolescence and maintenance issues, must be fully considered. While undergrounding high tension cables will protect the visual amenity, it is also important to consider the environmental impacts which are not often highlighted with undergrounding such as the land take for the necessary corridor and buffer zones, as well as the need for more extensive protection for cables and the large concrete encasement required. While it may be more expensive in the short term to develop it in this way, in the longer term it must at least be explored from the point of view of future investment.

We urgently need a landscape policy that should be in place before such major schemes are embarked on. I would have thought that would be self-evident. Industrial wind farms are proposed in the midlands, with many structures reaching 185 m. While I am in favour of developing wind and wave energy projects, the process cannot be developer-led or cannot ignore the obligations under the Aarhus Convention. It must find acceptance among neighbouring communities if it is to be a sustainable energy source. However, what is happening is that positions are polarising and a major rethink is needed. Will the Minster give more consideration to the ring main proposal which has not yet received the attention it deserves?

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