Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government amendment is a dish cloth of an amendment. There will be no buckling with the amendment. It will not fly. Given all of the discussion and debate that has happened, for the Government to come to the House with the amendment is an insult to the people who have campaigned, fought and petitioned us to represent them. I cannot believe that my Meath ministerial colleagues would back this. For the past ten months, the Minister, Deputy Naughten, has said he is listening. Last week and again today he told us that he is listening to the concerns of the people, yet has come in with a dish cloth of an amendment. It is a disgrace to the time and effort people have put into their campaign.

The simple act of deleting words shows that the Government amendment will not recognise the negative impact the project will have on the landscape, the detrimental consequences for our tourism sector and the impact it will have on people's livelihoods, farming practices and households. I stand to be corrected, but I have attended many public meetings over the past ten years and have listened to many Deputies and councillors. They are the words they have used, yet the Government is seeking to delete them in its amendment.

The issue we are debating may be very precise in terms of geographic location, but it has ramifications for the rest of the country in terms of how communities are treated by our planning authorities, as Deputy Fitzmaurice said, and what we set as the bar for the provision of infrastructure. It has implications for what becomes the defining issue in determining what form the required infrastructure will take and how is delivered. That is the crux of the matter.

Nobody is disputing the need for the provision of the interconnector. What we are debating is the manner in which it will be provided, that is, the overhead pylon manner which is being relentlessly pursued by EirGrid. I was in the chamber of Meath County Council when its representatives came to meet us and told us they would engage in a strong advertising campaign. Some ten years later, they are doing so but at the time advertisments appeared in the death notices of a newspaper the week after the meeting. It was very apt.

EirGrid has made a lot of noise about no other option existing for the provision of the interconnector, other than the overhead pylon option being put forward. Let us get beyond the noise because this goes the heart of the issue. No other option was ever considered by EirGrid or the Government in the provision of the line. The motion before us is very clear in its objective.

What is frustrating about the amendment is that all Deputies have accepted the need for facts to be established independently on the technical feasibility and financial cost of undergrounding for this project, taking into account all of the developments that have happened over the past ten years. EirGrid and Department officials have dismissed the option of undergrounding on simple formulas which I heard outlined in the audiovisual room last week, which is not acceptable.

If the Minister or any Department officials stood in the fields where these monstrous pylons will be built and saw the impact on the homes of people living along the route, the landscapes of Monaghan and Cavan and the historic Royal landscape of my county, Meath, they would have an understanding of what is at stake. The same principle applies to EirGrid officials because they have not stood in too many fields.

A cursory glance at their botched planning application that got the nod shows that it has access routes that do not exist and proposals for pylons to be constructed on top of houses and sheds. Google maps has its flaws. I have heard Ministers speak on this topic on several occasions in the Chamber and, more important, listened intently to the Minister, Deputy Naughten, in the audiovisual room last week when he spoke with campaigners. I give him credit for being the only Minister who had the courage to meet campaigners. It is clear his mind is not for turning.

His statement tonight is quite worrying because, according to himself, unless he sees figures which show the project is viable in an underground fashion, he is not for turning. The Government is not for turning.

Please give us the independent expert industry analysis in order that we can establish what all the sides want, which is the facts, because the project is going nowhere in its current guise, as the Minister of State, Deputy Regina Doherty, so eloquently put it. It will be plagued by judicial proceedings and the power of the people who will protect the landscape against this desecration. It would be easier and more sensible to engage positively with an independent analysis of the project's feasibility from both technical and cost points of view in order that there can be no dispute around the debate.

Ultimately there has to be an adjudication on behalf of the Government as to what will be the determining factor. What is the acceptable cost for the State when it comes to progressing this project? Will the Government consider the cost to our landscape, heritage and tourism and equine industries, to farmers and fishermen and to playing fields across County Meath? By God, EirGrid can splash some money when it comes to the GAA and when it wants to show it cares about playing fields. What about the people? What is the cost? According to the Minister, we are more concerned with bilateral negotiations and the situation with Theresa May than our own people. Does the human cost not count? Obviously not when it comes to the pounds, shillings or pence and EirGrid is totting up the figures.

If the figures are the only thing that matters, let us deal with them. The cash figures used by EirGrid vary almost daily. The project manager at the oral hearing in 2016 stated the cost to be six times the overhead line cost. The CEO of EirGrid on "Prime Time" in January of this year had it at three times the overhead line cost. The cost varies with these guys depending on the day of the week. Converter stations are a major component of the undergrounding cost, but new lines in the future will significantly dilute the overall cost per kilometre of these stations. The planned Sligo-Tyrone project is never highlighted by EirGrid, but it could reduce the Tyrone converter cost by some 50%. If cost is the determining factor, let us put the real figures on the record of the House in order that we can refute what is being put forward by EirGrid and have an honest debate. I asked the Minister, Deputy Naughten, about it last week, but he could not answer me. What is the determining factor? Is it the money? If it is the money, let us get an independent analysis so that we can cost it once and for all.

Two weeks ago during the Order of Business, I asked the Taoiseach about the energy section in his programme for Government. It speaks about better engagement and community consultation on energy policy decisions that affect the people of Ireland. Is there any better opportunity to implement the very words in the programme for Government than this one? Let us make those words count for something tonight. Let us make the words spoken by Deputies of all parties in public meeting halls and in this Chamber for the past decade count for something and let us back the motion so that we can show EirGrid and the Government that there is an alternative that people can accept.

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