asked the Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism if he considers that the arrangements that are made by the ESB to recover money owed to them by companies in receivership are adequate to protect the interest of consumers in general; and, if not, the steps he proposes to take to ensure that the ESB are adequately protected.
Written Answers. - Protection of ESB Moneys.
519.
Section 98 (1) of the Companies Act, 1963, applies to a receivership the provisions of section 285 of that Act in relation to preferential payments in a winding up. The ESB are not listed among the preferential creditors and they are, therefore, in the same position as other unsecured creditors.
I do not see any reason to alter this position particularly since, as I indicated recently during the debate on the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 1981, any lengthening of the list of preferential creditors would damage the interests of employees where a company is being wound up or is in receivership.