Judge asks ESB chief to answer trustees

The head of the ESB should reply to a letter from the trustees of the company’s pension scheme that stated it was “difficult to comprehend” proposals to pay a €400m dividend to the State when there is a €1.7bn deficit in the scheme and a serious risk to its future funding, a High Court judge has said.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly said it was “very unhelpful” that the letter, written on Apr 17 by trustees’ chairman Tony Donnelly, had not been replied to, and it would be helpful if CEO Pat O’Doherty would do so.

In that letter, the trustees asked the company to reconsider the proposal to pay the dividend “and to ensure the Government are aware of the significant regulatory deficit and risks to this fund and the company”.