David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to join with Senators Landy, Whelan and Kelly and the others who raised the issue of the need for a debate on energy policy. We have all been calling for that debate to happen in this House over recent weeks and months. There is a bizarre situation where we have a Minister with responsibility for this area who is not listening to public representatives in government or opposition. He is not listening to communities in regard to their fears about industrial wind farms which are essentially set up, if we are to be honest about it, to make profit for a small number of individuals and will not be serving the best needs or interests of the Irish people and Irish citizens. The power that is generated will most likely be exported and will not be used in this State at all. That is not on.

With regard to the high voltage power lines and EirGrid's plans to proceed with the Grid West project and the North-South interconnector, the Minister put in place a commission which he tells us is going to look at the costs and benefits of putting the high voltage power lines underground. However, we know the commission is going to be asked to look at evidence and an analysis of undergrounding by EirGrid, when its position on this is very clear, namely, it has been against undergrounding from the outset. As recently as last month, the CEO of EirGrid was before one of the Oireachtas committees, where he again repeated that undergrounding was simply not an option in his mind. Yet, this commission has been set up which is going to look at analyses and studies carried out by an organisation which has its mind made up a long time ago on this issue. We need to take a step back and rethink this but that is not going to be possible if the Minister himself continues with what I see as a very arrogant approach of not listening to people within his own party, within the Opposition and in communities throughout the country who will be affected by this.

I would go further. If one looks at what is happening in my own county of Waterford, where we are planning to put these unsightly pylons of up to 45 m in height through the beautiful heart of the Comeragh Mountains, it is an act of vandalism for that to be happening. For the Minister to simply dismiss the concerns of all involved is regrettable. We need a debate on energy policy.