Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A very distinguished and reputable journalist, Michael Fisher, who does a lot of work for The Northern Standardnewspaper in Monaghan and is a former RTÉ correspondent, did a great public service in obtaining through freedom of information requests correspondence between the Minister's Department and EirGrid. Reading that correspondence over the summer months, one would think that EirGrid is a division of the Department. It is obvious that it was consulted and its views sought on any move by the Department. It was not kept at arm's length but, rather, seems to be a de facto division of the Department, which is utterly wrong.

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