Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The whole charade stinks from the high heavens. We have been told we need what is proposed. I met this morning with EirGrid. We are being told one day by it that the energy will be for export and another day that it will service my constituents in Clonmel and I should not be opposed to it. We have been also told that to underground the lines would be nine times more costly. We are now being told undergrounding would be less than three times the cost of laying the lines over ground. We are all in a tizzy from the spin and PR. This Government has spent a great deal of money on PR and choreographing every situation, including the despicable cuts to mental health. The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, refused at first to meet with the staff of St. Michael's Hospital in Clonmel. When she did arrive unannounced she complained because the door was locked. She said at that time that she had to pinch one patient to wake him up. Does the Minister of State recall that?

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