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| The ESB plant at Lough Ree, County Longford. |
According to the CSO*, the pay levels of Clerical, Managerial and Industrial staff in the "Electricity, gas, steam and hot water supply" category which includes Bord Gais and the ESB, are substantially above other categories of workers.
The average pay of clerical employees (non-managerial) in Dec 2006 was €49,370 compared with €40,350 in "Manufacture of chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibres," which is dominated by multinationals such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Glaxo, Merck and others - a 22% pay gap.
The comparison between these two sectors is largely on payroll costs as large private sector companies generally provide pension coverage but the benefits would not compare with the public sector.
In other sectors, the disparity in benefits is much wider where there is no pension coverage.
So, arguments that ESB pay is high only because of the skills slant of the workforce, are not sustainable.
*Links to current release dated 29032007
JUNE 2006: Electricity prices for Irish industry are third highest in EU and sixth highest for consumers; Irish household prices are 46% higher than UK
