Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has received a review of the North-South interconnector; when it will be published; and if he will commission a full independent assessment of the potential undergrounding of the project. [45767/22]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister's colleague in government promised a full independent assessment of the potential to underground the North-South interconnector. Rather than deliver this, the Minister commissioned a review of previous reviews, something nobody had asked for. Has the Minister received the findings of the review? Does he plan to publish them? Importantly, will he now ensure we can move towards delivery of the North-South interconnector by delivering what communities have sought, which is a full assessment of the undergrounding of the project?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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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. 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 findings 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, but I understand it is to be finalised shortly. Following receipt of the report, it will be considered, with publication to follow in due course. I expect to receive it within a short few weeks and will then share it with Government colleagues, publish it and have a debate in the House on its contents.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I was at the ploughing championships today and the Minister's name came up quite an amount. I am not one for personalised attacks but he has become the figurehead for the perception that the Government does not listen to communities. The North-South interconnector is a good example of this. Communities have been very clear, as have we in the Opposition, that we understand the rationale for a North-South interconnector and we want to see it delivered. We have also pointed to Minister and his predecessors on several occasions that the principle of public acceptance and public engagement have not been met in respect of this project. We can proceed with this farcical situation whereby the Minister refuses to engage with local community. He has established a review to carry out a review of reviews. The elephant in the room is that undergrounding of this project has been deemed a credible option by the exact report the Minister has cited. What is the resistance to pursuing it in a way that will deliver the project in a more timely and efficient way than the current trajectory?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We listen acutely to communities. That is what all politicians do. We listen. I listen to a country where high energy prices are crippling people, as various Deputies said earlier. One of the benefits of having a North-South interconnector is that it would save Irish households significant amounts of money year in, year out. I hear people ask why we are so dependent on the distant fossil fuels that hold the country to ransom. An interconnector would also help us to develop and deliver our own power. I hear communities, particularly in Border regions, that have not had the same economic advantage and development that has occurred in other parts of their countries. I know an interconnector would also help to facilitate such economic development in the Border area. It is right and proper for us to try to get this economic development to these areas and not only in Dublin or the other cities. I hear communities who want an all-island approach in everything we do and who have a belief in national unity. I see no reason for us to break up our island with disintegration of the electricity market and not integrating our systems. What I hear is that communities in the Border counties want this united Ireland approach, which is what an interconnector will help bring.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I am sure the Minister's colleague in the North will be delighted to hear an interconnector is some clandestine mechanism to deliver Irish unity. To be quite clear, absolutely Sinn Féin wants to see an all-island integrated electricity network. That is why we want to pursue this infrastructure in a way that will have community support precisely so that we can deliver this interconnector. The Minister has told me he recalls his previous time in government when this issue was first mooted. He should also recognise we are no further on with the delivery of it almost 20 years after it was first mooted. My fear is the Minister's approach is simply to advocate what it is he thinks communities are saying rather than what they are actually saying. They are saying let us build this infrastructure but in a way that is credible, as determined by a previous report, and in a way that will have public acceptance. I do not know why this concept that we can deliver a key piece of vital infrastructure but with the support of local communities is so alien to the Minister and the Government. Without this support we will enter another period of prolonged delays and we will not see the end goal of this infrastructure in place.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I met the Minister the other day and earlier in the summer. It is very difficult because there is no Administration up North. There is keen interest in it even if there are no structures whereby a government up North can make a decision on this. We need a decision. I first started hearing about this 20 years ago when it was described as the most important and urgent project to deliver an effective all-island energy system. In the intervening years, all of the energy experts I have heard have said that we have to have it as part of a synchronised AC system, especially if we want industrial development in the Border counties. We could run a line up the Irish Sea from Belfast to Dublin but what we would then have is an island where economic development is only in Dublin and Belfast.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That is what we have under the Government.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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That is what we need to change. That is what we need to get away from.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister is missing the vital component of community acceptance.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We have a responsibility in government to think of the long-term development of the island.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has never answered my questions on community acceptance. Why is that?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are over time.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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It is an issue. I fully accept it is an issue.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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How will the Minister address it?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I also believe-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are over time and we are eating into the time for questions.