A TD has claimed that an electricity power line maintenance team “got lost” while looking for a line fault in a recent storm, due to poorly maintained forestry.
Speaking in the Dáil, Independent Sligo-Leitrim TD Marian Harkin raised the issue with Minster for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan.
Harkin said that many people in her constituency were the worst affected by Storm Isha last month (the first of two storms in a five-day period), and were without power for several days.
“Like many parts of the country, there were severe power outages in Co. Leitrim following Storm Isha. While most parts of the country had power restored in a day or two, some parts of Co. Leitrim…did not see power restored for six to seven days because of the complete neglect of maintenance and adherence to proper planning in our forests.
“We have planting beside power lines and under power lines, with…trees toppling over and taking down the wires. There is complete chaos,” she added.
The TD claimed that some maintenance crews got lost in forestry, and once the lines were located, it was “almost impossible to gain access”.
“Forestry companies are planting and walking away without care and due diligence for their plantations and the situation will only get worse,” Harkin claimed.
“I think we need to ensure that trees are removed up to 30m from power lines and that all associated works are carefully completed in the immediate future.”
In response, Minister Ryan acknowledged that forestry companies have a real responsibility and a legal obligation, subject to the conditions of licensing, to protect the area alongside power lines so they are not at risk from trees falling.
He asked Harkin to identify specific instances of forestry companies failing to meet those obligations, if she was aware of any such cases, saying this “should not be tolerated and it needs to change”.
However, Minister Ryan also said that the type of forestry planted was also an issue.
“There is a real issue in south Co. Leitrim, north Co. Leitrim, and Co. Roscommon. The nature of the forestry system we were developing was too intense in some areas, where communities rightly felt crowded out.
“We were sometimes planting non-diverse, single-crop, clear-fell species when we needed to go towards a more nature-based system of continuous cover. We need to clear for power lines but we also need to switch the forestry model,” Minister Ryan said.
Commenting after her exchange with Minister Ryan, Harkin said: “If an analysis of the costs involved in bringing crews from other jurisdictions; the time taken to locate and repair faults; the disruption to families, to schools, health facilities and especially to homes with vulnerable occupants…[the costs] would be just phenomenal and ordinary taxpayers should not be footing the bill.”
She added: “We need immediate and practical action…to deal with this increasingly chaotic situation.”