A threat of immediate industrial action at the ESB was removed yesterday following an intervention by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dempsey.
Network technicians, responsible for operating and maintaining the ESB's distribution network, had threatened to stop work this morning and not return until Monday.
The unofficial industrial action would have led to localised power-cuts in the event of breakdowns, as repairs would not have been carried out at the weekend.
The dispute was called off, however, after Mr Dempsey held separate meetings yesterday with the chairman of the ESB, Mr Tadgh O'Donoghue, and deputy chairman, Mr Joe LaCumbre, a worker director.
A row between the two over the company's €511 million pension deficit had led to the threatened strike by members of Mr LaCumbre's union, the TEEU.
Mr LaCumbre claimed he was in effect removed from his post after he issued a newsletter suggesting the ESB should not pay dividends to the Government until the pension issue was addressed.
Following Mr Dempsey's intervention, the chief executive of the Stock Exchange, Mr Tom Healy, is to undertake a review of the roles and responsibilities of the deputy chairman position in the ESB "in view of the current best practice in corporate governance for companies".
The Minister reiterated that Mr LaCumbre was deputy chairman of the ESB and said he would remain so. He said Mr O'Donoghue and Mr LaCumbre had agreed that the role and functions of the deputy chairman needed to be "clearly defined, particularly in light of the best corporate governance practice".
In a statement later, Mr LaCumbre said he wanted to thank the Minister for his intervention and clarification on his role in the ESB.
An ESB spokesman welcomed the removal of the threat of industrial action, which had had the potential to cause "huge damage" to the company and unnecessary hardship for its customers.
An initiative by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, meanwhile, to address an internal row within the ESB group of unions has not been successful.
A congress proposal - that the group be put "in abeyance" for three months - was rejected by the company's biggest union, the ESBOA.
