Independent Study To Be Commissioned on Eirgrid

I warmly welcome the announcement this morning by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, that his Department is to commission an independent study on transmission line infrastructure in Ireland. This study will address the issues and implications of installing underground cables relative to overhead transmission lines.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will commission the study over the coming weeks with a view to its completion and publication in April 2008.

The review which will be independent, broad based and include health issues
will start immediately. It will consider the relative performance and implications of under-ground cables and overhead lines having regard to technical characteristics, reliability, operation and maintenance factors, environmental impact, possible health issues and cost.

This is welcome news and is exactly what Fianna Fail representatives have been looking for after receiving vast amounts of representations from the
public.