ESB workers to get payoff for EirGrid transfer

ESB workers are to be handed a bumper payoff to work for the new national grid operator.

The deal, costing millions of euro, will pave the way for EirGrid, a State-owned company, to take over responsibility for managing the national grid from the ESB.

Around 120 staff will receive up to €50,000 each to go and work for EirGrid, a dedicated body independent of the ESB, which is expected to be fully operational early in the New Year.

The Government is unhappy that employees will be given the windfall despite the fact they will be doing the same work.

But a union source said: “It’s a matter for the two companies. There’s very little the Government can do.”

Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey said he wanted EirGrid to be up and running as soon as possible.

“As the shareholder on behalf of the Government, I expect the momentum of progress to be maintained and residual problems resolved,” he said.

The separation of the unit currently known as ESB National Grid from the ESB Group was supposed to happen several years ago, but it has been beset by problems. Various ministers have expressed frustration at the lack of progress, including Mr Dempsey’s predecessor Dermot Ahern.

The 120 or so ESB employees needed to be transferred from the ESB Group to EirGrid before the new body could formally take over responsibility for operating Ireland’s electricity transmission system.

Concerns over pensions and the employee’s shareholdings in the ESB had provided major obstacles but these have been resolved with a detailed transfer agreement. The process has also been stalled by complications over the ownership of ESB assets.

The complete separation of EirGrid from the ESB Group is strongly supported by the Government and the regulator, the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER).

The changeover has been sparked by the programme to encourage new entrants to the Irish power market to take on the ESB.

According to Michael Tutty, a senior member of CER, the separation of the two companies was essential to end any misconceptions about the Irish electricity industry in Europe and elsewhere.

The ESB will retain its functions of generating and supplying electricity, but will be treated in the same way as other power generators, including private wind-farm operators.

Earlier this year, the board of EirGrid selected Dermot Byrne, a senior ESB executive, as its chief executive. An electrical engineer, Mr Byrne has extensive senior management experience in the electricity industry and is a former head of ESB Networks.