ESB profits must be used to reduce burden on households – Pa Daly TD
20 March 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate, Energy and the Environment, Pa Daly TD, has urged the ESB to ensure that their profit of over €700m is used to provide relief to hard-pressed households who continue to struggle with the eye-watering cost of energy, which is the second highest in Europe.
Deputy Daly argued that this could be done by investing in the electricity network, so that the burden is not placed on ordinary workers and families, and reducing the cost of energy for households.
Teachta Daly said:
“Today, we learned that the ESB earned a staggering €706m in profit. While their profits are down on last year, this is still an eye-watering sum.
“In fact, the ESB has been making bumper profits for years now. Despite this, Ireland’s energy infrastructure remains seriously vulnerable to extreme weather events, putting ordinary workers and families at serious risk.
“This was borne out in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn where customers the length and breadth of this country were left without power for weeks because Ireland’s electricity network – which ESB is responsible for maintaining – was totally underprepared.
“To repair the damage, ESB’s own CEO suggested the cost of this should be borne by customers which would push up Irish energy costs even further.
“To suggest this while earning nearly three quarters of a billion euro in profits is deeply unfair.
“The ESB should be reinvesting this money into the network and paying for repairs rather than pushing up the bills of households.
“We also learned that profits at ESB’s customer-solutions division – Electric Ireland- soared last year to €113m. These profits are driven by its 1.4 million electricity and gas customers in Ireland. In other words, the high prices Electric Ireland is charging ordinary workers and families – which remain far above 2022 levels – are what is generating their profits.
“I do not think it is right that Ireland’s state-owned energy retailer should not be making profits of this magnitude while ordinary workers and families are struggling with the second highest energy bills in Europe.
“Electric Ireland must use these profits to lower household bills. They must also ensure that their prices are set fairly so that the hardship of people struggling to pay their bills is exploited for profit.”
