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

Following the Supreme Court decision this morning on the North-South interconnector, EirGrid trumpeted on the steps of the court that the project had now cleared all the planning and legal hurdles and issued a press release to that effect. However, the critical issue of access to landowners' property could not be addressed because access routes were never submitted for approval to An Bord Pleanála and so were not part of the decision this morning. Not one single access route has been submitted to local authorities. Not one single official access route has been sent to any landowner and there is no agreement for access routes at landowner level. Nothing has changed on the ground in all the time that I have raised this with the Taoiseach and Ministers. Does the Government echo EirGrid's triumphal statement this morning that all hurdles are cleared and things can plough on through the land where there is no consent from the landowners in County Meath? Does the Taoiseach support the stance trumpeted on the steps of the Supreme Court this morning?

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