ESB price hike - Timing was very cynical

AS THE Dáil was winding up before going on holidays on Thursday, ESB chairman Lochlann Quinn refused to speculate about forthcoming price increases.

That was a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation, he indicated, but he did concede that the rise would have to be on a par with increases in Britain.

Within hours of the Dáil going into recess for the summer, however, the commission announced a 17.5% hike in ESB prices from August. With the recent rise in oil prices, ESB prices were inevitably going to go up, but the manner in which this was announced makes a mockery of the system.