ESB vows to plug pension fund deficit

THE ESB says it is working on a plan with its unions to plug the €511 million deficit in its employee pension fund.

The company’s annual report for 2004 shows that the pension fund deficit has remained the same as in 2003, but swelled to €1.3 billion using new accounting rules.

However, ESB chiefs said the fund was more than capable of meeting its liabilities.

“Those numbers are based on measuring liabilities without regard to the expected return from the pension scheme assets. It [the accounting rules] says you derive that return as if it was all invested in bonds. We have €2.8bn in assets and only 9% is invested in bonds,” finance director Bernard Byrne said.

Asked yesterday at a press conference if the ESB was likely to increase its funding of the company if the workers did, chairman Tadgh O’Donoghue said: “The company has put forward a position and I believe it is not altogether different from that.”

Mr O’Donoghue rejected calls for the company to use the €77m dividend paid to the Government to fill in the pension hole.

“I don’t think there is any reason for the consumer or the taxpayer to foot the bill. I think it would be a terrible day for this company if that were to happen.”

The chairman said he was also concerned that the ESB was committed to buying electricity from the independent suppliers for up to 15 years.

“It is all risk to this company with little benefit.”