CER spent €5m on consultants’ fees

THE government watchdog for the gas and electricity sectors spent nearly €5 million on consultants’ fees last year.

The Commission for Energy Regulation’s (CER) annual report for 2003 reveals spending on “professional and consultancy fees” rose from €2.7m in 2002 to €4.85m last year. This includes €2.7m spent on the electricity market and €2.06m on the gas market.

The accounts reveal that the regulator’s office had a total income of €9.5m, an increase of nearly €1.5m. The electricity sector contributed €5.1m, with gas adding €3.1m.

Overall, the CER’s expenses exceeded its income, leaving a €39,936 deficit for the year. However, CER has made surpluses in previous years and ended 2003 with a €2.38m balance.

The accounts show the CER’s wages and salary bill rose by 25% to €2.16m. This gives an average annual salary of just over €55,000 for its 39 employees.

The regulator himself, Tom Reeves, was paid a salary of €149,365 before pension contributions. There were calls yesterday for the CER to be scrapped following its decision to allow the ESB to increase prices by 12.5% and sanctioning a 16% rise in gas prices for businesses.

Mark Fielding, chief executive of the small firms group ISME said of Mr Reeves: “He hasn’t achieved effective competition and certainly not achieved price reductions, in fact it is the complete and utter opposite. You don’t need a regulator. The first thing that should be done is get rid of the CER.”