ESB: Charged atmosphere over opposing pension claims

Is the dispute at ESB about workers earning an average of €65,000 per year threatening to turn off the power for thousands of pensioners at the height of the winter because their gold-plated pensions are not 100% guaranteed?

Or is it about a company, reputedly on course to take in €620m in profits next year, refusing to prop up a pension scheme which, if wound up, would see workers receiving a pension of just €13 per week after 30 years of service? Unsurprisingly the two sides in the dispute have very different perspectives.

The ESB pension scheme has been in difficulty for a number of years, but stringent measures agreed in 2010 appeared to offer a viable solution to the €2bn deficit.