Business and employers group IBEC has said that electricity prices are 'unnecessarily high' because the Government is pulling money out of the ESB each year through its dividend, while at the same time failing to reinvest in the electricity market.
IBEC says that since 2002, the Government has received €184m in dividends from the ESB. Every €20m taken by the Government represents a 1% increase in electricity prices for all consumers, it says. It adds that if these funds have been reinvested in the electricity system they would represent a 9% reduction in electricity costs.
'With electricity charges for business users now significantly above the UK average (Irish charges were lower than in the UK in 2000), and also above the EU average, Irish competitiveness is critically undermined,' commented IBEC's Director of Enterprise, Brendan Butler.
'Rather than taking swift action to relieve the situation the Government is further compounding the problem by removing funds from the system,' he added.
He said that the Commission for Energy Regulation is compounding the issue by adding additional costs in its failing endeavour to entice competition to the market.
'The Government and the CER must work together with a cohesive policy that will bring energy costs back in line with our competitors,' Mr Butler urged.
