Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The recent storm highlighted the risk to our electrical and utility infrastructure, most obviously within our rural communities, often to our most vulnerable. We have heard calls for electric and fibre broadband cables to be buried underground. There may be merit in undertaking that as a long-term objective in some cases. However, I argue that there is a much simpler and more cost-effective solution. What I propose would have a significant impact on the resilience of a large portion of our power and communications infrastructure across rural Ireland. In the storm's aftermath, while supporting the people most impacted, I came across windblown trees that had taken down multiple lengths of lines and poles. ESB workers have all told me the same thing. I compliment them on the great job they carried out in restoring power as quickly as possible in very difficult conditions. In more than 80% of the power line issues, believe it or not, the cause was trees. One person in the west Clare area told me that of 40 reported line breaks that were responded to, 35 were tree-related in forestry where the setback distances were either totally inadequate or not managed.

Currently, the forestry standards manual provides for a setback corridor that is 20 m wide for 10 kV and 38 kV lines. This means a pathway that is 10 m wide either side of the power lines through forestry where trees are growing to a height of 15 m and 20 m, and more in some cases. Within these setback corridors, trees are not permitted to exceed a height of 3 m. In many cases, even from a casual drive-by, it can be seen these standards are obviously not being managed by some landowners. Even the responsible ones agree the setback distances are inadequate. The figures clearly do not add up. The results are there to be seen in the vast number of premises left without power after the recent storm.

Will the Minister address these issues by reviewing the setback distances to recognise the discrepancy between the height of the trees and the space between them and the power lines; creating a fast-track process to grant landowners a felling licence to clear corridors in a timely manner to prevent history from repeating itself; resourcing the forestry service properly so it can undertake more inspections, stronger enforcement actions and preventative measures such as issuing felling licences more promptly; and, finally, including legislation that enables the ESB or telecom companies to clear set-back corridors in cases where no action is being taken by the landowners and to attach the costs of doing so against the value of the forestry?

This is my first occasion to address the Chamber and outline what communities across rural Ireland have experienced. I am delighted I can use this opportunity to highlight the damage that has been caused and how it continues to impact on them.

We have heard much talk of learning lessons from the recent storm. This is one such lesson, and one I feel we must learn from if we are to effectively prevent such long-term outages in the future. Prevention is always better and much more cost-effective than the cure.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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It is not only today that Deputy Cooney has brought this matter to the attention of the Dáil because he has been working diligently on the issue. The Deputy has worn a path to Agriculture House and has been on to me and my officials. I recognise that and his sterling work on behalf of his constituents.

This is an important matter. It is also of grave concern to our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who has also been making representations about this matter. As Deputy Cooney correctly stated, the existing legislation and corridors have failed, which is simply not good enough.

Last week, the Ministers, Deputies Heydon and Darragh O'Brien, and I met senior people from the ESB to discuss the corridors that are in place and what needs to be created in the future to ensure that situations such as we had will not occur again. It will involve, we imagine, changing legislation. Everybody believes the ESB has far-reaching legislative powers to go into land and do what is required to protect the power lines but it does not. New legislation potentially needs to be brought in. It would, of course, go through the Houses of the Oireachtas swiftly as everybody would support it because it would be for the betterment of the people of the country.

The incoming Government showed great foresight in the programme for Government, before we ever had this storm, in recognising that the protection of power lines and telecommunication lines was of massive importance. The Government's commitment to protecting those lines is in the programme for Government. We have seen the devastation caused in the Deputy's constituency and throughout the country, with people left in awful situations and people with sick children and elderly people left without heat and without light in their homes. It was an awful situation.

Deputy Cooney is correct to raise this issue. All I can tell him is that we are working on it. We will continue to work with all the stakeholders to address the issues we now face, including those in relation to forestry and power lines. At the centre of these considerations are the wider good and the need to take into account the needs of those landowners who have committed to forestry and will do so in the future.

I want to make it clear that people who already have a clear-fell or thinning licence along with a road licence can commence their clean-up operations straightaway. Across the country, these clean-up operations are already under way and the sector is doing all it can to meet the massive task we face.

When we were meeting the ESB last Wednesday evening, up to 50 harvesters were out working and contracted by the ESB to engage in that work. They are working along the existing corridors. What we have to do, and it is in the programme for Government, is to enhance those corridors, which will obviously lead to a situation where forest owners or landowners may have to be compensated for the encroachment on their land. As I stated, however, this will be for the greater good and to try to safeguard the security of energy to people's homes. At the end of the day, that is of paramount importance.

It was also highlighted to the ESB that the practice of trimming branches near power lines along the roadside is not good enough because they will grow again. We have to be more aggressive in our approach in ensuring that we protect the power lines.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, for his response. I welcome the meeting held with the ESB and I hope action will be taken sooner rather than later.

There is also a serious issue as regards Internet connections and phone lines. I hope further consultation will take place with National Broadband Ireland and Eir because I am aware of businesses and residents in certain parts of my county and the west where phone lines and Internet services are still out. That is not good enough in this day and age. We are all well aware of the importance of Internet and phone lines, especially for elderly people. I am aware of one elderly woman of 92 years of age who has a mobile phone but, unfortunately, no network cover and her landline is not working. Luckily enough, the neighbours are calling to help her out, but she is now almost five weeks without those services. As I said, these services are vital, not alone to elderly people but to everybody. I hope the Ministers also had consultations with NBI and Eir to see what can be done to fast-track the restoration of the Internet and phone lines in the areas still affected and, more so, for businesses and residents, especially elderly people.

As far as I am concerned, now is the time for less talk and more action. Consumers do not want to have to experience the same difficulties they have experienced over the past five weeks. After the recent storm, the lessons have been learned. It is now time to deliver.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Cooney. I like it when the Deputy says it is time for less talk and more work. To show the Deputy what work is going on, this is a matter that I am dealing with at the forest windblow task force, which met again yesterday morning. Subsequent to the meeting I and the Ministers, Deputies Heydon and O'Brien, had with the ESB last week, officials from the Department are exploring what we need to do to get on to the next phase, that is, the necessary legislation that might be required to allow this work go on.

The Deputy will appreciate that while work will have to be done, you cannot go on to a person's land where there is, for example, a corridor created already and a wayleave may have been agreed with the forest owner 20 years ago. The landowner might have been compensated for that at a certain width. If we are to come along now to that landowner and say that it must be a greater width, we must have legislative powers. Second, we cannot go to a person with our hands hanging. We have to be able to say we want to create a bigger wayleave. The Deputy, on behalf of his constituents, will say the landowner will have to be compensated. We cannot go into a person's land willy-nilly and say we will do this because landowners have to be respected.

The Deputy is right to raise the fact that it is the duty of the Government to protect power lines and the energy going into people's homes. In the programme for Government, people were thinking ahead. That never happened previously.

It is a recognition of the fact that our storms are becoming stronger and having an effect on the energy that goes into people’s homes. At the same time, the Government has been telling people to rely more on the ESB. The more they rely on the ESB, however, the more they need it. We have a duty in this regard. Deputy Cooney is doing great work. It is not his first time raising this matter since the storm. He has been over and back to Agriculture House regularly to discuss it. I want the people of Clare to know that.