Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 July 2020
14. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the North-South interconnector; if his attention has been drawn to the considerable local opposition to the proposed pylons included in this plan; his views on an independent review of this project which will consider the undergrounding of these power lines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16252/20]
View answerI want to raise the issue of the North-South interconnector with the Minister. I am fully aware of the importance of connecting the electricity and energy grids on this island. However, this project has met with spectacular local opposition to the pylons and overhead power lines along the route. Is the Minister aware of the level of anger and opposition on the ground to this project? As a TD from the constituency it is running through I can tell the Minister it simply will not proceed as a project in its current form.
I thank Deputy O'Rourke. I am aware of the anger and the intense public concern in a variety of areas but I am also aware of the critical importance of this piece of infrastructure for the island of Ireland and for co-operation North and South and the benefits for all our people. It is critical to improving the efficient operation of the single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply across the island. It will also help us to move towards a 70% renewable electricity target, which is a commitment made in the recent programme for Government. It will help us get a resilient and well-connected energy infrastructure, which is vital for our economic well-being, and the ability to respond to the future needs of energy consumers.
I am aware that there are concerns in relation to the construction. The option of undergrounding the line has been assessed at length on several occasions over the years. Most recently, my Department published an independent study in October 2018 on undergrounding the interconnector, which found that an overhead line remained the most appropriate option for the proposed interconnector. The study report is available on the Department's website. It was the latest in a series of studies that reached the same conclusion and I do not intend to order a further review of the project.
This goes back to 2003 or 2004. The Cathaoirleach and I shared a seat when we were on the Oireachtas joint committee on energy, if he recalls, although it was 15 or 20 years ago, where the urgency of the project was outlined to us. That urgency remains. The benefits remain and I believe it can be built in a way that protects health, which is the first priority in any instance, which can deliver economic benefits, particularly in those counties each side of the Border. Where it has been difficult to get employment this will bring other ancillary benefits. I understand that the main problem is now North of the Border so if Deputy O'Rourke's colleagues, as an all-Ireland party, could help overcome those we will see real economic benefits to both sides of the Border, which is what I believe we all agree we seek to deliver.
At the heart of this issue is a fundamental principle that will affect much of what we both want to achieve in terms of ambition around climate change, that is, the fundamental principle of public participation in decision-making. The Minister referenced the reviews that took place. He knows as well as I do that for every one of those reviews there is a real criticism in terms of the scope, nature and extent of the review and the comparisons that were drawn upon. At every hand's turn we have seen a case where the community position on it has not been meaningfully taken on board. That leaves a very bad taste and huge resistance locally. I ask the Minister, as a follow-up question, what the cost of this project has been to date. I am standing by that position. Unless there is a meeting of minds in respect of this we will throw good money after bad and this project will not be delivered.
The most recent estimates I have from the Department on the cost of the project is that €180 million will be incurred in the South, with the remaining €109 million being incurred in Northern Ireland. The total figure estimated by the International Expert Commission was a cost of €230 million. I do not have the figure for the cost incurred to date but I imagine it is not insignificant given, as I said, that this project has been many years within the planning process and has been reviewed extensively going back at least ten years in my recollection.
I return to the key point. I believe this project will deliver real value for money. My last memory of the cost of not having this facility is that it would be approximately €30 million a year that the Irish customer is currently paying through much higher bills than would otherwise be the case if we had the interconnector, so there are real savings to be achieved. More than that, this is fundamental to whether we have an all-island energy policy. We are at real risk of cutting off the North and at real cost, not just to the South but also to the citizens in Northern Ireland. My real concern is that this would divide our island at a time when I would prefer to see us having a shared island.
I do not disagree with the Minister on a number of those points but I believe we are not speaking to each other in this exchange. We are speaking past each other because the points I am raising are the points that have been raised by the community and it is my firm opinion that unless we address those concerns specifically we will not make progress. The Minister has responsibility for delivering this project. I am asking him, as a constituency TD who wants to see the project delivered, how he intends to deliver it. My firm opinion is that it will not be delivered in the current form and reasonable concerns have been raised by local communities about the nature of the proposal, how it was developed and the alternatives that exist. There is a forensic level of knowledge in the local community and I give them great credit in that regard. I know that currently there is not access to the lands. I do not see that at any point in time in the future. There have been signs up in those communities for ten years. How will the Minister deliver this project, which is a commitment of the Government, in light of the huge community resistance?
I hope we are not speaking past each other. I want to be as honest and up-front as I can be in saying I believe the project should proceed under the planning permission it has and in line with all the reviews that were done. My personal view, having looked at this in real depth and detail over the years, is that I do not believe it is technically possible or optimal to do it with an alternative design. As I said, we have to be very cognisant of health and local communities as we are building it but I believe the current proposal is the best way of doing that so I will be supportive of that. One of the biggest obstacles now is in the political system in Stormont. My hope is that we can work with our colleagues in the Assembly to minimise any downsides for local communities but to make sure we do not miss the strategic importance of uniting our island energy markets, which is something we agree on across the political spectrum.
