Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 March 2014
316. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will confirm that the expert panel set up to look at pylons and their use will look at the existing Moneypoint to Kilcullen line, to see the impact the pylons have had in the areas of tourism, environmental impact, property values, health and agriculture. [11962/14]
View answerOn 28 January last, in response to EirGrid’s recent public consultation process, I announced that I had appointed an Independent Panel of Experts, chaired by Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, to decide the terms of reference for, and to oversee the integrity of a process to be undertaken by EirGrid to report on, comprehensive, route-specific studies of overhead and underground options for both the Grid Link and Grid West projects under the Grid25 programme. While the two studies will take account of environmental impacts, including visual amenity impacts, technical efficacy and cost factors, a review of the transmission line referred to in the Question is not within the remit of the Panel.
