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

I wish the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State at the Departments of Rural and Community Development and Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Canney well in their new roles.

As the Minister is aware, we have been told relentlessly since 2006 that the lights would go out in Northern Ireland unless the North-South interconnector was built as a matter of urgency. The 2018 electricity generation report recently published by EirGrid and the System Operator for Northern Ireland, SONI, shows a remarkable turnaround from a situation with a significant power deficit to that of a significant power surplus in Northern Ireland for the next ten years, even accounting for a very high level of forecasted demand, which is a demand that is unlikely ever to be reached. It is time that the Minister and the Department questioned the necessity for this North-South interconnector project going any further in the planning stage.

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