Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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601. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will include the concerns of communities in counties Cavan and Monaghan in the terms of reference for the North-South interconnector, particularly about health, land devaluation, property devaluation, tourism and heritage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24569/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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On 19 December 2016 An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the North-South Interconnector project in Ireland. The decision concluded a lengthy planning process which included an Oral Hearing completed over eleven weeks from March to May last year. The planning decision is currently the subject of Judicial Review proceedings. The planning process for the section of the project in Northern Ireland is ongoing with an oral hearing concluding on 27 February 2017.

In light of the motions passed by Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, I have had proposals prepared for an updated independent study that will bring further clarity to the relative cost and technical merits of overhead and underground solutions for the North South Interconnector. I approved the Terms of Reference for the study and published them on my Department's website on Monday 8 May.

Following the publication of the Terms of Reference, I met with the Deputy and a number of other Oireachtas members from Cavan, Monaghan and Meath on Tuesday 16 May. This meeting provided me the opportunity to update the members on progress in relation to the proposed study and for the members to provide feedback.

As discussed at that meeting, it is not proposed to include external factors (such as local tourism, health, landscape, agriculture, heritage). These were examined as part of the statutory planning process which is the appropriate method by which such impacts are assessed and evaluated.

The impact on land and property values and the level of compensation paid in lieu of such impacts was also discussed at the meeting with Oireachtas members. Whilst it would not be appropriate for me to intrude on settled processes for addressing these issues between developers and affected landowners, in light of the concerns that have been voiced, I am considering how greater information could be made available on international comparative practice on the approach to and levels of compensation provided to land and property owners in proximity to high-voltage power lines.