Bord Gáis workers are set to share in a windfall of €54 million as a result of the winding up of an employee share ownership scheme.

About a 1,000 staff at the State-owned utility are to receive payouts averaging €54,000 each, with some getting as much as €66,000.

The move to end the employee share ownership plan (ESOP) is part of the process of restructuring Bord Gáis to allow for the sale of its energy business to Centrica and for the adoption of Irish Water.

To facilitate the changes, the company is buying back ESOP’s 3.27 per cent stake from the workers and distributing the funds to members.

Workers were informed of their impending windfall at a meeting in Cork earlier today.

The tax free payments, which will be spread out over five years, are restricted to staff employed by the company between 2005 and 2009.

The exact amounts will depend on the length of service of the employee involved.

The share scheme was set up in 2008 after three years of negotiations between the Government, the company and the unions.

According to both Bord Gáis and the unions, the shareholding was given in return for €32 million in productivity savings from workers between 2005 and 2009.

Through the scheme, staff now own 3.27 per cent of the company. The shareholding was valued recently by KPMG at €53.6 million.

Approximately 750 of the scheme’s 1,001 members are still working for the company.

The remaining 250 are either retired or working elsewhere but still own their shareholding.