Vol. 465 No. 1
208 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the cost of the ESB's organisational restructuring, exclusive of the proposed voluntary severance package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9090/96]
The total cost of the Cost and Competitiveness Review is estimated by ESB to be around £260 million over the period 1996 to 1999, during which time the bulk of costs associated with the restructuring will occur. The package will be self-financing to the extent that the savings over the same period are expected to be around £250 million. The cost of the ESB's organisational restructuring — exclusive of the proposed voluntary severance scheme and associated employee assistance programmes — is estimated to be around £80 million over the same period. These costs include the lump sum payments to staff, removal of the employee's "deficit" pension contributions, and productivity awards to staff.
