Allegations of ESB seeking backhanders to fast-track electricity connections for customers are “very serious” if true, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil.
He was responding to Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik who raised allegations in relation to the ESB aired in the Sunday Independent.
The Taoiseach said he only became aware of the charges through media reports at the weekend. “I have been briefed since, and I’m seriously concerned about them,” he said.
ESB staff ‘asked housing developers for backhanders’
“The ESB is a respected State company or respected public body. I wouldn’t like to believe that these things are true — but they may well be true,” he said. “And if they’re true, it’s a very serious matter.”
Gardaí are involved now and there is an investigation underway, he said. The Taoiseach also noted that there was a confidential phone line available for people to make reports.
“I would encourage anybody, whether they’re home builders or business people, or anybody who has information on this, to share it with the gardaí because we need to get it to the bottom of it very quickly.”
ESB staff ‘asked housing developers for backhanders’