Monday, 5^th March 2007 

IRISH HOTELIERS CALL FOR MARKET COMPETITION
TO COMBAT CRIPPLING ELECTRICITY COSTS

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today called for immediate acceleration of the liberalisation of the electricity market to combat the ESB’s stranglehold on Irish industry through exorbitant electricity costs.  Delegates at the IHF’s annual conference in Cavan expressed concern that Ireland’s electricity prices for industry are the third highest in the EU, behind Italy and Cyprus.  The cost and availability of energy is a crucial issue for the Irish hotel sector, particularly in an environment where increasing operating costs are threatening the competitiveness of the sector.

The IHF states it is unacceptable that industrial electricity prices rose by 53% in Ireland during the period 2000 to 2006, compared with an average increase of just 29% for the rest of the EU.  This excludes the hike in ESB prices by an average of 12.6% effective from 1^st January 2007.  The IHF maintains that such costs place the Irish industry at a competitive disadvantage when compared with their EU counterparts.  It is calling on the Government to act immediately to end the monopoly currently held by the ESB and open the market up to international competition to ensure fair prices and security of supply.  This is the only course of action that will drive down the excessive energy costs currently being imposed.  

According to John Power, Chief Executive, IHF, Irish hoteliers face the difficult challenge of reducing costs to remain competitive while still meeting customer requirements.  This is not achievable in an environment of unjustifiably high electricity costs.

"Irish hotels have been hit by crippling energy price hikes in recent years as the state-controlled electricity monopoly, the ESB, has been granted substantial price increases.  This has completely undermined competitiveness and the detrimental impact on SME’s, and the hotel sector in particular, cannot be permitted to continue. It is high time the Government demonstrated their full commitment to the liberalisation of the energy market and placed a serious priority on making it feasible for other energy suppliers to enter the Irish market.  True liberalisation of the energy market, and subsequent increased competition, cannot be achieved until the ESB monopoly on transmission and distribution ends,” stated Mr. Power. 

“We welcomed the move in the recent Budget to extend an additional €3 million for Sustainability Energy Ireland (SEI) to support SME’s in assessing their energy usage and develop measures to enhance energy efficiency.  The Irish hotel industry is committed to energy efficiency and we are calling on the Government to remove the barriers to achieving this through alternative suppliers,“ he concluded. 

In addition to working with SEI, the IHF has committed to developing a campaign for the hotel sector under the ‘Power of One’ campaign developed by the Minister for Communications and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey, T.D.

FOR INFORMATION:

Siobhan Molloy / Eoin Quinn              Tel: 01 6760168
Weber Shandwick                              Mobile: 086 817 5066