ESB management and unions have defended the cost of a voluntary redundancy scheme, which will come to over £100,000 for each of the 2,000 due to leave.
Criticism of the package by Mr Bobby Molloy TD (PD) and Mr Seamus Brennan TD (FF), has been a blessing in disguise for the company and union leaders. They are concluding a major restructuring deal, the Cost and Competitiveness Review (CCR), of which the redundancies are a key element.
There is doubt about the outcome of the CCR ballot as a substantial element among the workforce is unhappy with the terms. The publicity being given to the redundancy offer will be a timely reminder that most people outside the company believe the CCR to be extremely generous.
However, the redundancy package is not quite as good as it looks. Each worker applying for redundancy will be entitled to nine weeks' pay for every year of service. This is equivalent to terms offered until recently to Telecom Eireann workers. (Their package was reduced this year to seven weeks.) In the private sector, the going rate for voluntary severance is about six weeks.
There is a cap of three years' - salary on the lump sum on offer - at the ESB. The amount is also based on basic salary. Overtime, a significant factor in the gross pay of most blue collar staff, is not taken into account.
Average basic pay at the ESB is £18,000. The maximum someone on this rate can receive is £54,000 before tax.
At age 40 the formula changes. A lump sum of one yea's pay is on offer, plus a pre retirement allowance equivalent to 40 per cent of basic pay for a further seven years.
At age 50 the lump sum remains at one year's pay, but the pre retirement allowance is worth 50 per cent of basic pay and lasts until the former employee is eligible for an ESB pension at 60.
For those aged 55 or over the formula becomes more complicated. They receive a lump sum, which reduces by about 15 per cent every year. They also receive a pre retirement allowance worth 50 per cent of basic pay until they reach 60.
The most expensive part of the package is the pension. The ESB is offering to bring this forward under the CCR from 65 to 60. Anyone taking voluntary redundancy will have their service, including time spent on pre retirement allowances, taken into account for pension purposes.
Of course, the lump sums and other payments made will depend on the circumstances of the employee. The lump sums are expected to range from a low of £3,000 to £75,000. But most amounts will be about £20,000.
The average age of an ESB worker is 46 and rising. The average age of applicants for redundancy is expected to be about 50.
Yesterday the ESB head of corporate affairs, Mr Larry Donald, and the staff representative on the company pension fund, Mr Joe LaCumbre, made a vigorous defence the package.
Mr Donald pointed out that ESB workers, because they were in the public sector, were not eligible for statutory welfare payments like unemployment benefit. Redundant workers in the private sector could sign on for unemployment benefit. The pre retirement allowances were to take account of this fact, he said.
There would be no extra cost to the Exchequer, he added, nor would electricity prices be affected. The redundancy package was to be financed from payroll savings over the next four and a half years. The recent increase in electricity prices was to compensate for a 10 year price freeze and help fund the company's £1.5 billion capital investment programme.
Mr LaCumbre said ESB workers had already helped finance the package through the superannuation fund. Employer and employee contributions amounted to 25 per cent of pay.