Topical Issue Debate – Eirgrid

Deputy Paudie Coffey: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for taking this important topic. We need to have a wider debate on energy security and demand as there is much public concern about this matter. We, as public representatives, have a responsibility to advocate the people’s views and concerns on the floor of the House to have them addressed. Communities in my constituency have expressed deep concerns to me about the lack of engagement by EirGrid on this project and public confidence is suffering as a result. Reasonable people from communities affected told the Oireachtas committee that EirGrid just seemed to be ticking the boxes as regards consultation. It is speaking in broad generalisations without any transparency in the process involved. There has been no specific engagement on the costing proposed.
Up to €500 million is proposed to be invested in EirGrid in the south east but no transparent, accountable cost-benefit analysis has been provided for the public which it should have. It is proposed to place a transmission line across the centre of County Waterford, over the Comeragh Mountains and through the Blackwater Valley, scenic areas, some of which are protected. However, EirGrid has decided not to provide an office for public engagement in the county. It also chose not to advertise in local newspapers in west Waterford regarding these proposals. If we want real consultation, the public must be informed fully and openly.
The Oireachtas energy committee heard these concerns from the public. A cross-party consensus was reached by the committee to write to EirGrid to seek an extension of the deadline for submissions on the project which is to close on 26 November 2013. At the very least, submissions should be allowed until the end of the year to allow the public to have its say.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Pat Rabbitte): I would like to thank the Deputies who have given me an opportunity to make these remarks about this issue. I do not know why it took three weeks for Deputy Phelan to get it on the agenda. I was out of the country on energy business over the last couple of days, but other than that, I am available to deal with the queries any time they are raised.
EirGrid’s Grid25 national programme, and specifically the grid link infrastructure project, is vital for future socioeconomic progress in Ireland. The grid link project is a key initiative under Grid25. The project consists of a new 400 kV power line linking Leinster and Munster. Without this project, the grid in the south and east of Ireland would not be sufficient to meet the region’s future electricity needs. The grid link project will help enable a secure supply of electricity for the region well into the future. It will empower growth in the south and east of Ireland and involve an estimated €500 million investment. It will also enable Ireland to meet its 40% renewable target and reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels.
In the Government policy statement, to which Deputy Phelan referred and which I published in July 2012, the imperative for the State companies and all developers of energy projects of early, transparent engagement and consultation with local communities and stakeholders was emphasised. Currently the EirGrid project team is undertaking detailed analysis of the study area in order to identify the best possible corridors for development. As part of this process, on 3 September EirGrid published the first state report on the grid link project, identifying a number of overhead route corridor options for the new 400 kV power line. The publication of that report coincided with the beginning of a twelve week public consultation period.
I am aware that EirGrid is fully committed to extensive public consultation and that the company has been engaging in a comprehensive process in regard to the grid link project which has involved opening regional information centres, a lo-call project information telephone line and local radio advertising, backed up by national and local print advertising. EirGrid opened five project information centres at Midleton, Carlow, New Ross, Carrick-on-Suir, and Kilcullen. I understand that 33 open days were held within the project area over the last 16 months and that since autumn 2012, the grid link project team has visited marts, shopping centres and agricultural shows, attending over 120 events where thousands of stakeholders have engaged with the team and had an opportunity to inform themselves about the programme in more detail. I am also aware that the project team briefs and updates county councils, town councils, chambers of commerce and other local organisations and national and local politicians regularly, and have done so since the launch of the project in April 2012.
The current consultation process is a key opportunity for public input, as no decisions have been made regarding the final route of this electricity line. EirGrid has stated that it will fully take on board information and views about the grid link project, which is still at an early stage. Ultimately, it will fall to An Bord Pleanála to determine whether the views expressed have been adequately taken into account in the final project design.
EirGrid, under its licence as the transmission system operator, is obliged to plan the electricity transmission network in the most safe, secure, economic and reliable way possible. It has set out in its information brochure for the current consultation process the rationale for preferring overgrounding to undergrounding generally for this project. In the same document it states it is recognised that underground cabling may have to be considered to mitigate identified environmental constraints for the project and that this will be thoroughly investigated during the project development process.
I understand the concerns raised about the various aspects of grid development and there should be a full opportunity to explain all aspects of the Grid Link and other projects under Grid25. I am aware that the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications met yesterday with a number of anti-pylon community groups from the south east, north and north east regions which raised their concerns about grid development. The committee intends to write to EirGrid on foot of the discussions and meet representatives of the company and my Department at a meeting scheduled for 4 December.
Deputy Paudie Coffey: Public confidence has already been seriously undermined. There is concern that EirGid will drive on, irrespective of the concerns being expressed. This will meet huge resistance and add to the cost of the project. At the very least, the public deserves a full cost-benefit analysis of the underground option to be put on the table, with all the facts and figures, in an open and transparent way in order that it can be debated. That would show whether it was technically possible. Let us decide that issue first. Then let us decide if it would be feasible. What is being presented consists of broad generalities and it is not convincing the public. That is unacceptable. There is already a public highway running east to west in County Waterford, the N25, which also runs north to Kildare. This is an option as a route for underground cabling. I need to know whether that would be a viable option but no figures have been presented, except a €500 billion cost for overhead lines, with no specific details. We need more.
Deputy Pat Rabbitte: I get the point. Deputy Pat Deering said there was a formal consultation process but that there was no real engagement. I am concerned about this because after the North-South project I had a number of direct discussions, apart from the republication of the 2012 policy statement, in which I made it plain that I wanted those involved to engage with citizens along the route in their own language and explain to them why we needed a safe, secure energy supply in this country. Much money has been spent and it is very disturbing to hear a wide cross-section of opinion saying the quality of engagement is defective. I gave figures for the numbers of open days held and outlined the extent of interaction at community level in marts, shopping centres and so on. It is disappointing that that is the view of colleagues in the House.
Why criticise the consultation process because there are four, five or six corridors? EirGrid’s position is that if it went down to Waterford, for example, and said the line there was the one selected, there would be an outcry. It would be asked how dare it come down and inform them that was the line and would be told there ought to be public consultation to decide on the best route. There is no line selected yet, but I understand the point being made.
Deputy Coffey raised the issue of a cost benefit analysis, CBA. As I said to my colleague Deputy Jack Wall who approached me today on this issue, I am satisfied to examine whether there is merit in that suggestion. We did that kind of assessment on the North-South project. The Government promised that it would have an independent international assessment of the North-South project and three experts were brought in from Scandinavia and Belgium. They did the report and concluded it would cost about three times the cost of an overhead line. I do not draw from that the cost for the line from Knockraha to Great Island and back up to Kildare should be similar, but that is what the assessment found in that case. I take the point made by Deputy Coffey on that.
Deputy Stanley asked why the line was not put along the motorway when it was being built and I do not know. That was not done and we are where we are. We need to ensure the regions of Ireland have adequate power and energy for the purposes of employment and economic development. Time does not allow this evening for us to go into the kind of detail needed on this. Somebody asked for a debate on this issue and I am happy to have a debate at any time.
Deputy Tóibín said that countries across Europe are putting the lines underground, but that is not true, as can be seen. Denmark is going underground with the 120 kV cable, but has decided not to do so with the 400 kV line. It has taken that decision and it has a wealthier economy than we do. I do not want to put it stronger than that. Many of the claims made do not stand up. What stands up is that in politics, perception is everything and there are many concerns among the people. I accept and understand that. However, I repeat that no line has yet been selected. The public consultation process is under way and when concluded, we will see whether EirGrid is as dismissive as is being widely alleged. So far, there is no line selected.
Some of the proposals put to me, not just here but outside of the House, seem far fetched. For example, why if the line was going from Knockraha in Cork to Great Island, it would go via this way as distinct from via that way and so on. By a decision of this House, we established an expert agency whose task it is to deliver a safe secure energy supply to the country. It is supposed to have the technical, professional and other expertise to do the job. The days of Ministers drawing lines on the map and saying something shall go there are gone. Perhaps they should not be gone. Perhaps Ministers, who are accountable, should have more of a say in the system, but it is the way it is. Nobody challenges the technical and professional competence of EirGrid, internationally or locally. However, how well EirGrid interacts with local citizens and so on is clearly an issue on which Members have strong views. I hope we can provide reassurance on that.
I hear what colleagues are saying and there is much food for thought in what they have said. I am doing considerable thinking at the moment.