The sale of a minority stake in the ESB will be done in a way that is in the “best interest of the country”, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said today.
Mr Gilmore rejected suggestions that the IMF-ECB-EU troika’s programme of support in fact envisaged a break up and reform of the electricity body.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the idea of breaking up the ESB and selling some or all of its component parts was "not the route that the Government is taking".
He said he believed the troika was interested in the “overall target” and in the amount which the sale of State assets would contribute to our financial problem,” Mr Gilmore said.
He said the sale had to be done in a way that was “balanced” and in a way that protected the country’s overall national interests. In the case of the ESB, the issue of energy security was “something that is very important”, Mr Gilmore said.
“For all of those reasons, the decision that the Government has taken is that the ESB will remain as a single entity, it is not going to be broken up into its various parts and that we will sell a minority share in the overall entity.”
The Government had to agree the way in which the sale would be conducted, it had to find an “appropriate, compatible” investment partner for ESB and had to agree what share would be sold.
The IMF has urged the Government to raise €5 billion through the disposal of assets.
In a reversal of its stated policy, the Government in July accepted a recommendation by Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte against the break-up of the ESB.
Ownership of the electricity transmission assets will remain with the ESB and the operation and development of the transmission system will continue to be the responsibility of EirGrid. The decision followed a recommendation of the Cahill report on the energy company’s future.
The Cabinet this week agreed in principle to the sale of a minority stake in ESB and will consider the matter again once an expert group has reported back by November 30th.
Two of the largest unions representing ESB staff – Siptu and Unite - yesterday said they were opposed the plan to sell a minority stake in the company. Unite said it would ballot for industrial action.
Mr Gilmore said the Government was “quite happy to listen to the trade unions”. If they wished to discuss their concerns with Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte, the Government was “certainly open to that”, he said.
“It’s rather strange to see trade unions talking about balloting for strike action before they have engaged in discussions about it.”