Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

The amendment to section 182A(5)(a), relating to electricity transmission lines, will allow the board to ask for further information as regards the consequences of proper planning and substantial sustainable development of the area concerned. The current wording allows the board to seek further information only as regards the effects of the proposed development on the environment. This appears to have been an oversight in section 175 of the 2000 Act on which the draft of this section is based. In fact the related amendment, No. 112, proposes to make the same change in section 175.

It makes sense that the board should be able to seek further information on any aspect of the application of proposed development and this will contribute to a more robust decision making process. The amendment is also necessary to bring the section into line with the other consent procedures being provided for in the Bill, and with the language in the same section.

Given that I was once threatened by the CEO, then the chief operating officer of the ESB, to be sued and put out of my home for having the temerity as a mere councillor to oppose one of its planning processes, I believe it is a healthy development to have this type of information. I am pleased, therefore, to have tabled the amendment to correct what I believe is an oversight. Again, I ask the House to support both amendments.