Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The new North-South interconnector, which will allow for the flow of 900 MW of electricity between Ireland and Northern Ireland, will be critical for improving the operation of the all-island integrated single electricity market, ISEM. It will also help to facilitate the achievement of the goal of generating up to 80% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030. A resilient and well-connected energy infrastructure is vital for Ireland's economic well-being and the ability to respond to the future needs of energy consumers.

The option of undergrounding the North-South interconnector has been comprehensively assessed on several occasions. Most recently, the key finding from the international expert commission's report of October 2018 was that an overhead line remains the most appropriate option for this critical electricity infrastructure.

Notwithstanding this, it was deemed appropriate to carry out a further short review to assess if the overall finding from the 2018 report remained valid. Having requested tenders from a number of grid experts across Europe, two international experts were selected to carry out the study. Work is continuing on the report, which has taken longer than expected. It has not been a short process. I regret that but I understand it is to be finalised shortly. I have not seen it yet but I expect it in the next couple of weeks. Following receipt of the report it will be considered, with publication to follow in due course. At this point, I am not able to provide a publication date.

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