asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if any steps have been taken by him to warn the public as to the dangers of interference with the Shannon transmission lines, in view of the intended early use of some of them for the supply of power.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - INTERFERENCE WITH SHANNON LINES.
I have previously had notices, warning the public against any interference with the transmission lines, posted at all the schools, provincial Government offices, offices of local authorities, Gárda Síochána barracks, and in the immediate vicinity of the transmission line poles. An enamelled plate containing a warning notice is affixed to every pole as soon as the painting of it has been completed. In addition, copies of the warning notice and an explanatory memorandum have been issued to managers and teachers of National Schools with a request to have its terms brought specially under the notice of the school children, and to the Department's field engineers for distribution, particularly in those districts where much mischievous damage to the installation has been done. In districts where the cables have been strung, the co-operation of the clergy has been invited in impressing the danger on the public.
I take this special opportunity of giving a deliberate and solemn warning that power is about to be transmitted over a wide area of which the approximate boundaries lie between Dublin South via Bray and Enniscorthy to Wexford, from Wexford to the West through New Ross to Waterford, from Waterford by Kilkenny and Carlow to Maryborough and then from Maryborough back to Dublin. Roughly the whole South-East quarter of Ireland is involved.
Since no interference with the transmission lines is justified I hope that no one will consider that such interference is safe at a place not mentioned in my description of the "live" area, which is necessarily approximate. I wish it to be known by everyone, parents of children especially, that while there is absolutely no danger from the transmission system, if it is left alone, any interference now with lines that are "live" means almost certain death.
Is the Minister aware that in Italy all poles that carry live wires are labelled with a skull and cross-bones? Will he consider the advisability of doing that here?
We are labelling them with an enamel plate and a warning notice without skull and crossbones.