The privatisation of the ESB network has been ruled out by the Minister for Communications, Mr Dempsey, but he said the sale of ESB power plants would be considered in a new review.
Mr Dempsey recently announced a major review of energy policy, but yesterday he said there was no question of the ESB's transmission or distribution network leaving State ownership at present.
Mr Dempsey said in the next few weeks he would be seeking consultants, from across the EU, to carry out an energy study, which would probably take about six months.
However, speaking to a conference yesterday, the Minister indicated that the ESB network - which is made up of a transmission and distribution arm - was likely to remain in State hands.
However, he added: "This does not mean the Government does not support competition".
He was speaking at a Sustainable Energy Ireland conference on security of supply.
Commenting afterwards, he said he was concerned that some of the mistakes of the past should not repeated. He said the decision to sell the telecoms wires during the privatisation of Eircom had created problems subsequently.
The Minister's comments will re-assure senior executives in the ESB who are keen to maintain the company as a vertically integrated utility.
During recent weeks, an ESB management presentation was circulated suggesting a small number of stations might be sold or leased to the private sector. However, unions are strongly against this idea.
The ESB operates and owns 19 power stations. Several of these are old and have high maintenance costs.
If stations were sold off eventually, it is likely they would be what are known as "mid merit" plants, which are only called on when the electricity system moves towards peak demand.
Despite ruling out network privatisation, Mr Dempsey said all other issues in the energy arena would be considered by the review. He said that, while the Government did not favour selling the network, this did not mean it was not in favour of competition.
"We need to find out whether ESB dominance is good or bad. Does it actually serve the consumer well or not," he said. "Making a decision on the whole electricity industry without an in-depth study of the different options would be a stupid thing to do."
He said the Government might promote internal competition between ESB plants or could recommend selling them to encourage competition.
"All these issues will form part of the review," he said.
The Minister also said security of supply in the electricity sector would now be the responsibility of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). He said that, up to now, it was the responsibility of ESB National Grid, his Department and the CER.
