Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party is supporting the Fianna Fáil motion because the motion seeks to examine the technical feasibility and cost of undergrounding, to evaluate the potential impacts of both undergrounding and overgrounding and to analyse the real costs to date and estimated into the future. It seeks to ensure no further work is done until this analysis and a full community consultation takes place. Nothing in what is being asked for is unreasonable to our minds. There is a decision of An Bord Pleanála but there is precedent for taking on board independent advice, specifically the Grid Link project which was a report for the independent expert panel of September 2015. This looked at the Grid Link project, a dogleg project linking Cork, Wexford and Kildare and made a recommendation to use the regional option. With series compensation, a process of using smartgrid technology to allow more power to flow through existing lines, it eliminated the need for significant new transmission circuits, meaning no new infrastructure was needed. This is a different project and there was pre-existing infrastructure but there was a report of an independent expert panel which looked at the options and came to the conclusion that no new infrastructure was needed on Grid Link to manage the 400 kV potential that was coming down the line. If new information comes before us and new technologies, as well as precedents in other parts of the European Union, we should take them on board if we can. There is nothing in the Fianna Fáil motion that would damage the long-term potential of a North-South interconnector.

I note the correspondence from a number of business organisations in the North of Ireland such as the Institute of Directors, Manufacturing Northern Ireland, the Derry Chamber of Commerce and others who are seeking to remove the constraints in the current market and are seeking the delivery of the interconnector because it will place downward pressure on consumer bills.

I am quoting directly from their correspondence. We all agree on the need for a greater degree of interoperability between North and South across so many different sectors, including electricity. There are times, however, when there may be a need to revise one's opinions on issues when they arise. If it is having such an impact, then the community's concerns, as articulated by the vast bulk of its representatives, should be heard. That is why we are supporting the motion.

I want to refer specifically to the what the Minister said. He indicated that there is a report from his chief technical adviser. It would be appropriate if that advice were published. If he is willing to place the chief technical adviser's advice on the record, it would be pertinent for this House to have sight of it. This would not do any harm and it would inform the House as to the type of advice the Minister is receiving.

I respectfully take issue with the use of Brexit as an argument against supporting the motion. We all understand the complexities of Brexit as they relate to the UK White Paper and the letter issued by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, asserting continued support for the single electricity market. We all understand that dynamic, but if one of the signatories to that market is no longer a member of the European Union, it puts a hole in the Minister's argument.

We must now question the status of the project of common interest. Even though these plans clearly state that energy projects are deemed by the European Commission to be of strategic cross-Border importance, we must question what the status of that project of common interest is in the light of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, notwithstanding our own position of ensuring that North-South interconnectedness should continue to be embedded in every way, both societally and economically.

I respectfully suggest to the Minister that using the Brexit argument as a mechanism to support his position will not cut the mustard for people living in this region. I ask him to consider the Fianna Fáil motion which we are supporting.

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