Any North-South review is up to panel: Rabbitte

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has played down a suggestion that concerns about power lines for the North-South interconnector may form part of a review of Eirgrid projects.

Mr Rabbitte said work was well underway on the North-South line — running from Meath to Tyrone — and it was up to an independent panel to decide what review, if any, could be done on this project.

The clarification came after Taoiseach Enda Kenny earlier told the Dáil that he wanted to see the remit of the independent panel on Eirgrid’s plans extended to cover the North-South route. This followed a meeting where Mr Kenny met TDs from the border region who pressed him for the change.

However, in a statement last night, Mr Rabbitte left the possibility of reviewing concerns about the North-South interconnector unaddressed and reiterated that the focus remained on two routes in the south and west.

He said the expert panel, chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness, would not be asked to express a preference or make any recommendations in relation to overhead or underground options for routes.

Issues and the updating of information around electromagnetic fields would also be dealt with by the minister for environment’s department and not the panel, said Mr Rabbitte. The issue of placing an expert in this area on the McGuinness panel “would not arise”, he added.

Mr Rabbitte also stressed that the reviews had been a response to concerns about the Grid Link and Grid West projects.

Planning for the North-South line had been underway for 10 years, he said, and studies were already done on the option of putting power lines underground, which found the cost would be three times that of opting for overhead cables.

This and other studies would be examined by An Bord Pleanala when it receives the planning permission, said Mr Rabbitte.

However, he added that he had only agreed with Mr Kenny to ask the McGuinness panel to consider what work, if any, could be done on the North-South line.

“This is of course a matter for decision by Judge McGuinness and her colleagues,” said Mr Rabbitte, adding that he would meet the panel tomorrow.

Eirgrid last night played down any chance of the North-South route stalling, saying the project was “at a very advanced stage of preparation and would be ready of lodgement within weeks”.

Earlier, however, Fine Gael TDs suggested that everything could be up for review on that power line.

Cavan-Monaghan’s Sean Conlan said a review could look at all aspects, including visual impacts of lines and property devaluation.

Anti-pylon campaign groups reiterated their call for a cost analysis of routes going underground.

Padraig O’Reilly of the North East Pylon Pressure group also said that plans to pay up to €30,000 to those living near pylons was an “insult”.

Q&A

By Conor Ryan

Before Christmas it appeared inevitable Eirgrid would plough ahead with its intention to run a network of towering pylons through the countryside. It was argued, by the company and by the Cabinet, that the infrastructure was urgent and vital to attracting future investment into rural areas.

However, on Tuesday a panel of five experts, led by retired Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness, was appointed to reassess the debate.

That panel will now referee the debate between the company, which says burying pylons would be too expensive, and community groups who say the real cost to their areas will be enormous if the lines are not buried or scrapped.

Q. What has happened?

A. After a highly contentious public consultation process, in which Eirgrid was criticised for failing to properly engage with people, the clock has been reset.

A new public consultation period will open, but only after the company is able to produce reports on the two competing options — underground and overground.

The two possibilities will be presented side-by-side, with the a study on the comparable effect of each route on the environment, the technical capability of the network and Eirgrid’s finances.

Q. Who will sit on the panel?

A. Catherine McGuinness will be joined by ESRI economist John Fitzgerald, who is a former member of the Irish Energy Research Council.

The panel will also consist of grid expert Professor Keith Bell from the University of Strathclyde, Dr Karen Foley from the UCD school of landscape architecture, and economist Colm McCarthy, who has previously been critical of the level of investment that had been made in wind turbines.

Q. What has Eirgrid been told to do?

A. The panel, chaired by Ms McGuinness, will draw up terms of reference for two studies into the overhead and underground options. One will look at the Grid Link plan (Kildare to Cork) and the other will look at GridWest (Leitrim to Mayo).

But while the panel will decide what the studies have to look for, it will be Eirgrid’s responsibility to carry out the research.

The studies will have to examine the environmental impact of the proposals, including the visual harm.

They will also have to factor in the cost of alternative plans and the technical limitations of each method.

Q. Does that mean Eirgrid will be studying its own work?

A. The only sure thing is that Eirgrid will undertake the two proposed studies. This will be happening after it completes it review of the record number of submissions it received during the extended public consultation process.

However, the independent panel will have the power to commission its own research into areas where it believes Eirgrid’s work has been deficient.

Q. Why has this emerged now?

A. The cynical view is that the weight of local opposition made the two coalition parties nervous ahead of the local elections in May.

So, after first postponing a decision until after the ballot, Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has now set up a new process to allow for a possible change of heart.

However, the minister has dismissed this view and said he took the decision to set up a panel of experts to deal with his own misgivings about the public consultation process.

The closing date for public submissions passed on Jan 7 and it appeared Eirgrid was pressing ahead with drawing up plans on that basis. However, following a meeting between Eirgrid and the minister last Friday, this alternative approach was decided on.

Q. What came back during the original public consultation process?

A. A briefing for the minister has set out the main areas of concern which significant numbers of people expressed about Eirgrid’s proposals.

These included the visual scars which may emerge, especially in scenic areas and places which attract tourists.

Many people complained that Eirgrid had not allowed enough time to properly engage with communities.

And there were also strong objections from the agricultural communities and from bloodstock breeders who felt the cables would endanger their animals.

Finally, those who may find themselves living closest to the pylons felt their properties would be devalued without any compensation.

Q. What is the proposed compensation package?

A. Until now the only people who stood to benefit financially from the two schemes would be the landowners where the pylons would be erected. It was tough luck if a pylon was put up near a house but outside a person’s property boundary.

The newly announced measure seeks to partially address this. If Eirgrid goes ahead with the pylon plan a €50m compensation package will be available.

This will include two elements that will give money to communities and to individual residents.

Local communities will get €40,000 per kilometre of cable that runs through their locality and this pot will be administered by local authorities on behalf of the affected neighbourhoods.

Residents whose homes are visually affected by pylons will also get €30,000 if they live within 50m of a new pylon. The €30,000 will drop for every additional metre up to 200m when the compensation offered will be capped at €5,000.

The awards will be distance based and will not be tied to the actual orperceived drop in property values for the homes in question.

Q. Will that €30,000 be the absolute compensation limit?

A. Eirgrid said it does not want to put pylons inside a 50m radius of a house. But, if it has to, it said it will deal with those people on an individual basis to compensate them.