A meeting of the ESB board of directors finished this afternoon with no comment on plans to transfer ownership of the national grid to EirGrid.
ESB directors will meet again in May to discuss the Government's plans to transfer the provision of electrical transmission from the ESB to EirGrid, another semi-state company.
The directors met to discuss the implications of the Government White Paper on energy, in which plans were outlined to move the ESB's transmissions assets to EirGrid. The ESB board of directors noted today that the white paper was a "complex and detailed document, containing proposals that have potentially major implications for the company".
The ESB went on to say in a statement that a number of the Government proposals needed clarification and that it was necessary to more closely examine the impact proposed changes might have on the "value and commercial viability" of the ESB.
The board of directors said that it fully supported the Government's renewable energy targets, greater cross-border interconnection and fuel diversity.
Jimmy Jordan, Siptu energy branch organiser, said ESB workers and Siptu members believe it is a bad idea to split up the operations of a successful company such as the ESB. He added that Siptu Energy Branch members are not conducive to such a deal.
The national transmission network is operated by EirGrid but is owned by the ESB, in which the trustees of the Employee Share Ownership Plan have a 5 per cent stake.
A spokeswoman for Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey said earlier this week that the decision had been made in relation to the White Paper and that there was "no question" of the Government changing its stance on the decision.