THE ESB will pay workers at two electricity plants it is selling to Spanish group Endesa almost €2 million for agreeing to transfer to the facilities' new owner.
The agreement is part of a €2.8 million incentive package which will see 188 workers receive €5,000 each after voting in favour of the sale yesterday. The ESB will continue to pay some staff who leave part of their salaries.
ESB workers at the Tarbert (Co Kerry) and Great Island (Co Wexford) electricity-generating plants yesterday voted in favour of their sale to Endesa for €450 million.
The ESB agreed the deal with Endesa in July, but it was conditional on a majority of workers in each power station voting in favour of the sale.
Unions balloted workers yesterday and a majority at each plant voted in favour. The sale won the support of 55 Great Island workers, with just eight against. The margin in Tarbert was narrower, with 66 for and 59 against.
Endesa will need a minimum of 112 staff to run the power plants and it has agreed what unions say is an "attractive" package for those who transfer from the ESB.
Those who choose to take jobs with the Spanish operator will receive a further €5,000 each and another €12,000 next year. Workers have until Thursday to decide if they wish to move.
Those leaving the State company will also receive normal voluntary severance payments. This will involve workers aged 48 and over who transfer to Endesa continuing to receive half their ESB salary until normal retirement age.
Staff also have the option of remaining with the ESB and being redeployed. Unions and management have identified a number of positions for staff who want to stay with the organisation.
Last night, Brendan Ogle of Unite, one of the group of unions which represents ESB staff, welcomed the workers' decision to support the sale, which he said would secure well-paid jobs in two parts of rural Ireland where there was little industry.
He said that between the purchase of the power plants and its plans to build new facilities on both sites, Endesa's total investment would run to almost €1 billion.
The ESB itself also welcomed the news yesterday. The company said it was pleased to confirm that staff at the plants had voted in favour of the Endesa deal.
"This paves the way for the delivery of the assets to Endesa by the start of December," a spokeswoman said. She pointed out that this meant the sale would go through on schedule.
The ESB agreed to sell the plants as part of a deal with the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), which wants the State-owned company to reduce its share of the electricity market to 40 per cent and open it up to more competition.
Endesa will be the biggest utility to enter the Irish market.
Owned by Italy's Enel, it recently reported that its first-half profit more than quadrupled after it sold assets in Europe and charged higher prices for power in its home market. Net income rose to €6 billion from €1.26 billion a year earlier.
