Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to have this debate. The Minister, Deputy Naughten, wanted me to explain that he had to leave. It was not out of rudeness and he is watching the debate in his office, but he just could not sit here any longer. In case people are wondering, he is watching the debate because he values everyone's input. I express my thanks to the Minister for meeting all involved last week and for listening with a genuine ear to what the groups had to say. Individually, as Deputies and Ministers, we have all been in his ear for the past couple of months since he took up his role. We have done it with other Ministers as well. He took time out to meet everyone last week and spent nearly two hours going through all the information and the data. We will work on and come back on those data. I welcome that too.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae put it best; no one wants to live beside a pylon. No one likes or wants them. Since the start of the project I have said that we have a duty to prevent the use of pylons if at all possible. I have always held that view. I have listened to people over the years differ but I have never changed my view. Whether in opposition or in government, I have had the exact same approach to this issue. For me, this is not politics; it is personal. This project goes through my neighbours' lands where I grew up. As it goes through those townlands, to me it is personal. It is not politics. However, I have watched people playing politics with it over the past ten years and, to be honest it is very annoying but I will not go there. However, for me this is not politics.

I have consistently had the same approach in opposition and in government, which is that we have to do all we can to try to prove we can avoid the use of pylons. I have stated on record that I do not believe EirGrid has done enough to prove that we can avoid using them. However, people such as Deputy Eamon Ryan and those in EirGrid and elsewhere take the view that we have to use pylons. Deputy Ryan genuinely believes that we cannot avoid it but I believe that we should be able to and can prove him and EirGrid wrong. I have held that view all along. We will not win this by demanding it, but by proof. That is why I welcome tonight's debate and the various motions and amendments that were tabled. A combination of all these measures will give us the information we need to win the argument. I believe we need to examine and analyse projects that are going underground abroad. Let us prove to Deputy Eamon Ryan, EirGrid and those who are involved in the decision making that this can work and that we can use one of those models here. We have never done that. I thank the Minister, Deputy Naughten, for being prepared to do that. I said it of Pat Rabbitte as well when in July 2012, he published the statement directing EirGrid to use the most up-to-date technology and best engineering solutions. We must prove there are better engineering solutions available and an analysis of what is happening abroad will give us the case we must make to win that once and for all.

People ask if this is about money, reliability or security. I understand that it is all of them. EirGrid will always say that it is not the money. When it comes to the money, we have come a long way from the first meeting I had with EirGrid when it said it was 40 times the cost. It was then 25 times, 20 times and 16 times the cost. Then it was ten times the cost. Thankfully, we are down to three times or two times the cost now. Anywhere in that bracket, however, means we can have this conversation. We must be able to prove that we can do it, reliability-wise and security-wise, which is why we need to look abroad to find an example that suits our project here also.

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