IRISH INDEPENDENT BUSINESS SECTION: THE BULLSHIT CONTINUES
Mar 17th, 2008 by Conor McCabe
IN the same week that the European Central Bank (ECB) said Ireland was losing its competitiveness faster than any other country in the eurzone, our own Government decided to shelve a measure, which more than almost any other, would has benefited the competitiveness of the Irish economy. We pay more for our electricity than most of our European neighbours. (”A separation of powers for lower electricity bills“, Irish Independent, 17 March 2008)
The fact that Ireland pays more than its neighbours for electricity is probably the one thing Tom McEnaney got right in his article for today´s Irish Independent. What Tom DID NOT SAY, and will never say, is that electricity prices in Ireland are not set by the ESB, but by the state regulator, the Commission for Energy Regulation. Prices have been set high in order to make the ESB more attractive to potential buyers. That is, the large increases in prices since 2000 are directly linked to the government’s move to privatise the grid.
The most succinct explanation of the privatisation scam is by Michael Taft. His article on all of this is here, while Donagh´s complementary article is here.
Just remember, the people who are telling you to keep on buying houses are the very same ones telling you that it’s in our interests to privatise the ESB.
