MULTINATIONAL EMPLOYERS have warned State agency IDA Ireland that they will have to cut jobs if the energy regulator goes ahead with a proposed levy that could add €86 million to industrial electricity bills.
The Commission for Energy Regulation is proposing to impose a public service levy on all electricity bills to pay for supports for green energy and peat-fired generating plants.
Government policy requires the regulator to impose the charge. It will bring in €195 million. Of that total, industrial electricity customers, many of whom are multi-nationals with large workforces, will pay €86 million.
IDA Ireland chief executive, Barry O’Leary, said yesterday that executives from a number of multi-nationals have told him that if the levy goes ahead, it could force them to lay off staff.
Mr O’Leary explained that in many cases, these companies’ parents, mainly in the US, want them to make savings, and a sudden increase in their electricity bills could leave them with no alternative but to cut jobs in order to do this.
“Ireland has made very good progress in bringing energy costs more into line with our competitors,” he said. “But they are still slightly higher than elsewhere, and if we apply a levy, then those costs will increase again.”
The IDA, which is responsible for attracting and supporting multinational employers, has made a submission to the commission raising these concerns. Multinationals employ 240,000 people in the Republic, according to figures released by the IDA yesterday at its mid-year review.
The Government has introduced a windfall tax for electricity generators that will raise an estimated €75 million, which will be returned to businesses that use large quantities of energy, including multinationals and IDA client companies.
Mr O’Leary was speaking after the State agency published its mid-term review.
He is hopeful that investment by multinationals, either newly arrived in the State or with established bases here, will create between 6,000 and 10,000 new jobs in 2010. So far in this year, 51 overseas companies have announced their intention to invest here.
Mr O’Leary said that so far, about 5,300 new jobs had been confirmed, and added that there are more in the pipeline.
Some of the companies which have announced projects include media content and gaming specialists, Stream and Electronic Arts, while in services, Telefonica and Dun Bradstreet, have committed to setting up operations in the Republic.
Speaking at the review’s publication, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Batt O’Keeffe said multinational companies accounted for 55 per cent of corporate taxes paid in the Republic, while they spend €19 billion here every year.
