Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. There is plenty of food for thought in his response. It is a detailed response, and I thank him for that. There are a number of issues raised that we must think about and be cognisant of.

I do not think that there is any disagreement about the North-South interconnector. We all need that. There is no point in rehearsing all the things that we agree on. We must discuss what we do not agree on and decide what the difficulties are. I have spoken to a number of Independent councillors. Might I say that Cavan is the only council in the country that has no Independent councillors, which is strange in itself. Perhaps they are efficient and are doing a good job up there. This issue has divided both political groupings, namely, the Government and the Opposition, it has divided communities and it has divided people. It is about the environment, sustainability and the environment in which people live. It also highlights shortcomings. I will not go into it, it is a matter for another day, but we clearly need a critical infrastructure agency that stands on its own. We are going to have many challenges right across this country in the foreseeable future in rolling out essential critical infrastructure for many reasons that will aid and support our economy, job creation, balanced regional development and a whole range of other issues. Critical infrastructure is essential, and this is another part of critical infrastructure. I do not see any problem with supporting the North-South interconnector.

When one looks at the motion and the proposals before us, they are calling on the Government to commission an independent report incorporating international industry and expertise to examine the technical feasibility and cost of undergrounding the North-South interconnector, taking into account the most recent developments in technology and experience gained from existing projects, and to evaluate the impact of both overground and underground options.The motion also calls on the Government to "evaluate the potential impacts of both undergrounding and overgrounding". I believe it is right that it should be underground. While certain costs would be associated with that, what cost can be put on the health and safety of people living in communities? This whole case has shown up the lack of real public consultation, the failure to provide information to people and the lack of engagement with communities and elected representatives. I am disappointed that a number of the Senators who have vocally opposed this scheme are not here today.

This critical issue affects people in counties Monaghan, Cavan and Meath, in particular, but it also affects people in other areas. This is ultimately a question of independent validation. I know that this scheme has gone through the planning process and people are disappointed with the outcome. I have appealed many decisions to An Bord Pleanála and have been disappointed with the outcome. How can we clearly set out the facts? What are the exact costings for putting this underground? Is it possible to put this underground? Are there technical reasons this cannot happen? If so, do those reasons relate to costs or to delays? If it is a question of costs, those costs must be independently validated so that we can spell out to people the absolute costs involved.

This is a difficult decision for an Independent Minister. I do not know what is the Government Chief Whip's current stance, but she has spoken publicly on this issue in the past. One of the difficulties is that the representatives of all the affected constituencies are going to square up. This ultimately must be about trying to reach consensus. While value for money is important, we do not need to put a value on everything. If I lived in County Monaghan, County Cavan or County Meath, I would expect my local Deputies, Senators and county councillors to fight this case on behalf of the local people while remaining cognisant of the need for critical infrastructure. The Minister might share with us the details of the costs and elaborate on whether it is technically possible to go underground. I thank him for his comprehensive response. I will think about it before I decide how to vote. I thank him for clearly setting out in an unambiguous and upfront manner the difficulties he sees in this regard. Can we have some greater detail on cost?