Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I shall respond to the second question first. There is no question of the health issue not being included in the panel. Rather it is a matter that relates to the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. Responsibility for any concerns in respect of electromagnetic fields or non-ionising radiation is a matter for him also. As I said in my formal statement, he is arranging for expert advice to bring the 2007 report up to date. It is not a question, as has been said, of having nobody on the expert panel with a medical or scientific background in the area. That matter is the jurisdiction of another Minister and the memorandum that I brought to Government requires him to do so and to bring it up to speed. He will do so.

As regards the North-South issue, it might be best if I state my few formal words that coincidently happen to address Deputy Moynihan's other question. Detailed studies have already been conducted for the North-South project, most recently by the independent international commission of experts appointed in July 2011, arising from a commitment in the programme for Government. A route-specific underground analysis was conducted by PB Power which found that the cost of undergrounding would significantly exceed the cost of the more usual overhead cables. The PB Power analysis was considered and confirmed by the independent commission who estimated that the cost of undergrounding would be at least three times that of overhead cables.

The North-South transmission line is a critical and strategically urgent transmission reinforcement and is of critical importance in the broader North-South context. This is because as well as reinforcing the grid in the north east region of the State, the transmission line will be a vital link in maintaining the security of electricity supply for Northern Ireland into the future. I recognise, however, that the public would be reassured if it knew that the overhead and underground options for the North-South have both been investigated and that the already published studies are sufficient to enable a similar comparison to be made by An Bord Pleanála when they come to decide on the merits of the planning application.

I shall give a specific answer to Deputy Moynihan's question. Tomorrow I shall meet the chairperson of the expert review panel, Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness, to discuss the work programme for the panel. I will ask her to consider what work, if any, the panel might usefully undertake to establish whether or not there has been parity of treatment between the North-South transmission line project, in terms of the work undertaken to date, and the very issues that the expert review panel will examine regarding Grid Link and Grid West into the future.

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