Min pic: An image from the Power Check website during the Storm Éowyn outages across Donegal.
The Tánaiste has promised Donegal Deputy, Pearse Doherty, the ESB will not be allowed to gouge customers to cover the repair costs arising from Storm Éowyn.
Simon Harris described comments by ESB Chief Executive Paddy Hayes on this issue as insensitive but he said Mr Hayes now accepts this.
Last week Mr Hayes had suggested that the costs arising from Storm Éowyn will be passed on to customers.
He also said there may also be no compensation for those affected by Storm Éowyn. Mr Hayes said that the public service levy is not applicable during storms.
The Tánaiste was responding to a Dáil question this morning from Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty, who said most rural communities had to fend for themselves in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, which caused widespread destruction when it hit Ireland on 24 January.
At the height of the storm, more than 770,000 customers were without power. Of those, 87,000 were in Donegal.
ESB Networks said on Tuesday that power has been restored to all remaining customers impacted by Storm Éowyn.
Deputy Doherty called for the ESB to be hauled in by the Government to ensure that customers who were without power for up to two weeks do not face a price hike.
“We expect the ESB to start compensating people,” he said.
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