Eircom staff may get incentives of up to £40,000 (€50,826) to move over to Vodafone should it buy Eircell. The 1,200 staff, who work in the mobile subsidiary, will have to be compensated for giving up their right to receive shares under the Eircom Share Ownership Plan if they move to Vodafone, say union sources. The ESOP was set up in the run-up to the flotation last year and acquired 14.9 per cent of the company in trust for the staff. The shares held by the ESOP will be handed over once the debts taken on by the trust have been discharged.

Just over half of the ESOP shares have been allocated to staff and any that leave as part of the Eircell sale will give up the right to further allocations, say union sources. The value of the shares that the staff would forgo is about €40-€50 million - or as much as £40,000 per person. According to union sources, the issue has not yet been addressed by Eircom in a meaningful way and remains the most significant obstacle to the ESOP Trustee's support for the sale. There had been speculation that the trustee would not be able to support the deal because Vodafone plans to pay for Eircell by issuing shares to Eircom shareholders. It was unclear as to whether the trust could hold shares in a company other than Eircom but the trust now has legal advice saying it can do so.