As strike action looms at ESB, the Greens call on the Government to outline its policy on the future of the company

The Green Party today called on the Government to outline its policy on the future of the ESB. Green Party Energy spokesperson Eamon Ryan TD said that,
?The threatened strike at the ESB would have a devastating effect on the Irish economy. The unions seem to want to have it all in their demand for both an 18% pay rise and a 20% stake in the company. Perhaps they have been encouraged into taking that position by the lack of any clear strategy from the Government with regard to the future development of the ESB.?
?A leaked letter from the National Grid company to the Energy regulator described the Irish electricity market as an ?inefficient oligopoly? where the ESB is running the older ?mid-merit? generating stations at only 75% of their capacity. In an attempt to get new investors into the market the regulator has raised prices by some 23% in the last two years but this move has still failed to attract vitally needed investment. We are still close to having blackouts due to a shortage of new generating capacity. At the same time our record in the development of our potentially remarkable renewable resources is disastrous.?
?The deregulation of the electricity business has clearly failed and yet the Government seems to be happy with the status quo and cashing in the ?67 million dividend cheque which it got from the ESB last year.?
?The issue of ESB pay and pension funds are something that the unions will have to work out with the management but the demand for a larger shareholding in the company is something that only the Government can address. The European Union is unlikely to allow the state to return to having a monopoly control in the generating business but the Minister does have a number of other options available to him.?
?The preferred strategy of ESB management is to maintain its dominant position in the Irish market and also to invest in overseas power stations. An alternative option would be to split the ESB generating stations into three or four separate companies, which could then compete with each other in the Irish market. A third option would be to allow bidders to compete for the contract to manage individual power stations.?
?In this final option the individual stations would be given flexibility to set prices and would retain their own profits, but ownership of the assets would remain in the state?s hands, given the fact that the stations are in many cases an extension of the strategic grid system. This contract management solution would have the added advantage of allowing workers a real stake in the business and at the same time it would insure that the Irish customer gets the best possible price for electricity.?
?We have been raising these issues with the Minister in the Dáil over the last two weeks during the debate on the Electricity Amendment bill but the Minister has so far failed to outline out exactly what his own vision for the future of the ESB entails. We hope it will not take a strike and all its consequent upheaval to shake the Government out of their lethargy in this vital area,? concluded Deputy Ryan.