Legislative Process
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-11
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister for his reply. It should not be rocket science to bring forward these new legislative measures. The initial legislation in this area in this State is the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927, which was amended in 1999 to address the relationship between forestry and transmission lines. For years, I have raised in this House the difficulties facing communities, especially those in my county of Cavan, and also across Leitrim and into Sligo. Year after year, during lesser storms than Storm Éowyn, trees were falling and bringing down power lines. I could be certain every January and February that I would have numerous calls from constituents who were without power due to forestry falling on power lines. This issue should have been addressed before Storm Éowyn. I know the Minister is prioritising it but legislation at official level moves far too slowly. This has to be given priority, as he said. There is no reason this type of legislation should not be enacted quickly and effectively. The last thing we want is to have forestry continuing to damage our critical infrastructure, including telecoms and ESB lines.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-11