Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have read the reaction to the terms of reference from one of the locals in the Monaghan anti-pylon group. They state that this type of study is exactly what they do not want as it obviously is intended to assist EirGrid in benchmarking landowners for compensation for overhead lines in an international context.

The feeling on the ground is that to talk about compensation, for starters, is to use the wrong language. People living in the area are worried about land devaluation, health and landscape. I am sorry to tell the Minister that the publication of a second study and terms of reference discussing compensation gets people's backs up. There is no other way of putting it. They are distraught and worried that it is almost as though the Minister is trying to assist EirGrid in ploughing ahead with its plans and completely ignoring the worries of the local community. Those people are not worried about compensation, they are worried about their health, the devaluation of their land and the area where they have to live for the rest of their lives.

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