Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is absolutely the case that the ESB is a very profitable State-owned company. It generates very significant profits each year. It may well be the case that it will generate larger profits this year than in previous years. It is important to put on the record of the House what it does with its profits. Its profits form part of its balance sheet. With them, it invests in the grid to make sure we can bring power to all parts of the country and empower job creation and economic development. It also invests in renewables, which is the long-term solution to the energy-security problems and price instability we have. The profits do get reinvested. A good chunk of the profits come back to the State. They come back to the Exchequer through the corporation tax on profits that the company pays and the dividend to the State. We use that money. It goes into the Government's coffers. We use it to do things like increasing the fuel allowance and taking the €200 off people's electricity bills.

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