I would really love to know the extent of capital reinvestment in the west by ESB networks. In 2023 ESB reported an operating profit of €1,121m. That is broken into ESB Networks: €359m, Northern Ireland networks €78m Generation and Trading €730m, and Customer solutions (€12m loss). They have a €4.4bn capex programme (2012-2015) in place for ESB networks. Annual accounts for 2024 are due out in March. There is no reason that they cannot spend their money on making sure the network is up to scratch – that should be core. A certain requirement for reinvestment in addition to more ‘normal’ profit-driven staff bonuses would probably help. Already we hear management say cost increases to customers are on the way. When eventually all is said and done, we need somebody to own and report a review on this debacle. Customers have been told they won’t have power back until at least 9 February.

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