Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Jobs and Enterprise Dara Calleary has accused the Government of engaging in an arrogant and highly misleading campaign on Pylons.

Mr Calleary said: "The comments from the Taoiseach and the Minister Pat Rabbitte over the past 24 hours show just out of touch this Government has become. It clearly demonstrates that the Government has absolutely no intention of taking on board the genuine concerns of communities and intends to just press ahead with the large scale construction of overhead lines regardless of any objections.

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"The Taoiseach’s outrageous linking of emigration to this debate nothing more than scaremongering. We have seen the Taoiseach employ this kind of misleading scare tactics before, in an attempt to bully people into supporting other Government campaigns. It is an insult to democracy and to the intelligence of the Irish people. And in this case, it’s a shameful insult to job seekers.

"Now the Minister with responsibility for energy supply Pat Rabbitte has taken to the airwaves to dismiss and belittle the communities that have genuine concerns about the construction of pylons on their doorsteps. In a characteristic display of arrogance, he attempted to push his own agenda by undermining these communities and describing their concerns as nothing more than a 'whim' and 'some passing fashion'.

(CD)