John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the calls by Senators Whelan, O'Neill and Cullinane for a broad debate on the Grid25 project. I have raised the issue on numerous occasions. Does the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and EirGrid have a sense of the feelings that exist among people who are opposed to these pylons being erected within 50 m of their homes?

People across the country are ready to rebel on the issue. I know that people are prepared to go to prison and resist these unless EirGrid consider underground cabling. If that is the legacy that EirGrid wants to leave, it will be a shocking indictment of the company.

EirGrid's defence mechanism is that underground cabling costs two and a half times more than going overground. If it goes underground, however, it will not have to compensate farmers. Farmers are happy if the cabling is out of sight and out of mind, and they will not seek compensation. I doubt very much if EirGrid has told people that this should be built into the figure it is trying to convince people it will cost.

The main issue I want to raise is that of discretionary medical cards. The matter has been widely discussed in the media and the Oireachtas, yet medical cards are still being withdrawn. At the weekend, I had a call from the distraught father of a young child in Crumlin Hospital. The PCRS or primary care reimbursement service was refusing to give the child a medical card. For the past week, the child has been ready to be discharged from hospital but Crumlin will not discharge her until she has a medical card. She has had six months of treatment at a cost of €1,200 per month.