Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount paid to date by his Department on consultancy services in relation to the proposed 440 kVA electricity lines here; the organisations that were paid fees and the amount paid to each organisation; the work done under these consultancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52316/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The planning, development and routing of 400 kV transmission line infrastructure, including any necessary consultancy services, are matters for EirGrid and not matters in which I, as Minister, have a statutory function.In 2008 my Department commissioned an independent study on Comparative Merits of Overhead Electricity Transmission Lines versus Underground Cables. The analysis was undertaken by international consultants Ecofys, in partnership with an expert in underground cable technology, Professor Dr Heinrich Brakelmann of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, and with Golder Associates, a global group specialising in ground engineering and environmental services. This total cost of that work was approximately €123,000, plus VAT. In addition, in 2011, I appointed an independent international expert commission to review the case for, and cost of, undergrounding all or part of the Meath-Tyrone line, as committed to in the Programme for Government. This was at a cost of €25,000, plus VAT for each of the three experts involved. The Meath-Tyrone Report - a Review by the International Expert Committee - was published in 2012.