The deputy chairman of the ESB, Joe LaCumbre, will find out today if he is allowed to chair full meetings of the company's board.

The official chairman, Tadhg O'Donoghue, will not be able to attend the meeting for personal reasons, so Mr LaCumbre is expected to step into the role. Mr LaCumbre is a longstanding worker-director. He was appointed in 2000 as deputy chairman by then minister for public enterprise Mary O'Rourke.

However, sources last night said there was a chance some directors might object. Previously, Mr O'Donoghue strongly resisted the idea of Mr LaCumbre chairing meetings. He also clashed with Mr LaCumbre over the best way to tackle the company's €500 million pension deficit.

Last Wednesday, the company's board met at short notice to discuss the sale of its 54 retail outlets to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) for €120 million.

Because this transaction directly impacted on union members, Mr LaCumbre did not take the chair. Instead, the meeting was chaired by Willie McKee, the chairman of Amtec Medical Ltd.

The agenda for today's meeting is not believed to be contentious and there are no issues with a direct bearing on trade union members. The sale of the shops to the Bank of Scotland was approved last week, although the transaction will not be officially completed until July.

While ESB will be receiving €80 million for the ESB retail loan book and €40 million for the properties themselves, the company is not likely to benefit significantly from the transaction. A significant portion of the money will be paid out in redundancy payments to departing staff for instance.

The rising price of oil may also be discussed briefly at today's meeting.