Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With the establishment of the review, the Minister's colleagues have obviously recognised that this issue needs to be examined further and that the consultation was inadequate.

The Minister's view of the current position is obviously based on the fact that there are problems. Is he happy that this development is not having a negative effect on farming, habitats and the environment generally? He seemed to say EirGrid and other companies involved could decide whether they should have an environmental assessment carried out. He basically said it was up to them to decide, but is he happy that his Department will let them do so? Perhaps he might explain how the companies involved in the midlands wind energy for export projects are using underground cables. The former CEO of EirGrid, Mr. Dermot Byrne, who is now with Element Power, one of the companies concerned, has had a Pauline conversion on the issue of undergrounding. As these companies are profit-based, even more so than EirGrid, why have they now decided to place cables underground?

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