Rabbitte says poor understanding ‘haunts’ pylons debate

Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte has said that a poor under standing of the facts "haunts the debate" surrounding the issue electricity pylons.

Mr Rabbitte made the remarks to TG4’s current affairs programme, 7 Lá, which airs at 7.30pm tomorrow and will examine the controversial €500 million plan to construct a 250km above-ground network of pylons across rural regions of the country.

The plan has drawn fierce criticism from campaigners while TDs on all sides of the Dáil have also expressed concerns about the potential adverse effects of the network on both health and tourism

The Sunday Times reported last week that Minister for Health James Reilly had in 2012 sent representations to ministers Phil Hogan and Pat Rabbitte about potentially adverse health effects from power cables being laid underground in the town of Rush, in his Dublin North constituency, as part of the east-west electricity interconnector.

Dr Reilly had written to them regarding an opinion sent to him by Dr Anthony Staines, professor of health systems at Dublin City University, which linked the electricity cables to an increased risk of childhood cancer.

Mr Rabbitte said the use of that letter by campaigners provided “a very good example of the misunderstanding that haunts the debate”.

“Minister Reilly’s letter to me and Phil Hogan was in relation to undergrounding. His complaint was about the east-west interconnector, which is a sub-sea cable which passes through Rush, and he was representing a view of his constituents, which was about concern of undergrounding.

“Yet people who are advocating undergrounding are jumping up and down claiming James Reilly’s concerns, which were disposed of by the chief medical officer, they are now saying that somehow it supports their case. In fact it does the opposite.”

The Department of Health in a recent statement said the State's chief medical officer "has advised the minister that on the basis of international evidence, health considerations relating to electricity pylons do not warrant the involvement of the minister".

Mr Rabbitte also told TG4 he was to receive an EirGrid report on the public consultation, which has now concluded, and he will make a presentation to the Dáil before the end of the month.

EirGrid's director of grid development John Fitzgerald has said: "If we can put cables underground in scenic areas then we will endeavour to do that, but it is hard to put them underground because of the alternate current. But if we can keep the pylons away from houses and scenic areas, we will do that. That is one of our aims."