Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. He mentioned in his contribution that he met the action groups. I know he was in great physical pain at the time. On behalf of the elected Members present and the people from the communities that met him, I thank him most sincerely for meeting the action groups.

I welcome Deputy Shane Cassells to the House and Councillor Clifford Kelly from County Cavan. Along with other public representatives, they have been a strong voice against this project as presented to us. Indeed, the councillors of County Monaghan, who are my former colleagues, and all of the councillors of Cavan and Meath, have also spoken with one voice on this issue.

I take issue with a number of points made by the Minister. He seemed to imply in his statement that we are against upgrading infrastructure and the project per se. I wish to make it very clear that we favour this project but we have an issue with the project going overground as opposed to underground.

The Minister made the point that some people have played politics with this issue. I can assure him that all of the public representatives who have spoken here today and, indeed, elsewhere against this project did not play politics. They have spoken for and represented the people in the communities in which they live.

I agree with what the Minister said about the delay. It is important that when one apportions praise or blame, it should go in the proper direction and in this case it is EirGrid. The delay occurred because EirGrid made a hames or a dog's dinner of the initial application at a cost to the taxpayer of €8 million. The delay was due to EirGrid's incompetence when handling the application, which was first discovered and cited by Councillor Owen Bannigan who has since passed away. He was a great champion, among others, of this particular project.

The Minister also mentioned the cost of undergrounding. It is important that we briefly touch on this matter. He mentioned in his statement that an expert group maintained in 2012 that it would cost three times the amount to underground this project than go overground. I accept that point. Four years earlier the same experts told us that it would cost 20 to 30 times more. In 2012 the cost dropped from 20 to 30 times to three times the amount. Five years have elapsed and I contend that the cost has reduced even more. Let us remember that advances have also been made in technology. An independent study will provide clarity on the true cost of this project.

I was disappointed to learn what the Fine Gael Deputies from the affected counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Meath have done. When they had an opportunity to put on record their opposition to this project they decided to keep their mouths closed and say nothing. However, when they speak on the local and national airwaves they have tried to fool the people into thinking that they are against the project. This evening the Fine Gael Members of this House have an opportunity to state where they stand on this project. I sincerely hope that they will join with the rest of their colleagues in this House and support the motion tabled by Fianna Fáil.