Ireland's ESB Sees 3,700 Jobs From Green Investment
Date: 17-Apr-09
Country: IRELAND
Author: Padraig Halpin
DUBLIN - Ireland's Electricity Supply Board (ESB) expects private industry to create 3,700 jobs over the next five years, largely on the back of investments in green energy, the utility group said on Thursday.
The ESB's positive outlook comes against a backdrop of soaring numbers of social welfare claimants, with the estimated rate of unemployment hitting 11 percent in March, the highest since 1996, as Ireland heads into a second straight year of recession.
Projects including the roll-out of new electricity meters and electric cars would also sustain 1,300 jobs outside the company, state-owned ESB said, adding it will train 800 apprentices over the next five years.
"ESB has the will, ability and commitment to take a lead and to invest in viable enterprises and inject energy into the economy", ESB Chief Executive Padraig McManus said in a statement.
Among the possible new jobs, implementation of the company's "smart networks" strategy will account for 1,500 new posts, while programmes for the recharging of electrical cars and work on wind energy may provide another 600 and 300 respectively.
The redevelopment of ESB's head office in Dublin will create 400 construction jobs, the statement added.
"This is a major step in advancing the Government's commitment to building Ireland's smart economy," Prime Minister Brian Cowen said in a statement.
"The announcement shows that we are delivering on that vision and providing new and sustainable jobs for current and future generations."
"Today we are stimulating the economy, shortening the dole queues and helping the environment at the same time," Energy Minister Eamon Ryan added.
The government sees the Irish economy contracting by about 8 percent this year, with the expected loss of more jobs resulting in an average unemployment rate of about 12.5 percent for the year as a whole.
(Editing by David Holmes and Erica Billingham)
