Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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81. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the meetings or engagements he has had regarding the north-south interconnector to date in 2021. [29380/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The North-South Interconnector is critical to improving the efficient operation of the all-island single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will also help Ireland to move towards our 70% renewable electricity target by 2030. A resilient and well-connected energy infrastructure is vital for Ireland’s economic well-being and the ability to respond to the future needs of energy consumers.  As with any project of such scale and significance, I routinely discuss the project with my officials and colleagues within Government.

The option of undergrounding the North-South Interconnector has been comprehensively assessed on several occasions.  Most recently, the key finding from the International Expert Commission's October 2018 report was that an overhead line remains the most appropriate option for this piece of critical electricity infrastructure.

Notwithstanding this, I have decided to commission a further short review to assess if the overall finding from the 2018 report remains valid. Terms of reference for this study were published on my Department's website on 21 April. On 7 May, my Department initiated a procurement process using the procurement frameworks administered by the Office of Government Procurement to appoint an expert to undertake the review. The aim is to complete the review as quickly as possible.