The unions are not happy with the minister's proposal that a separate subcompany of the ESB should build, own and run the new power station at Aghada and that the electricity generated there would have to be sold to ESB's rivals, and not into the national grid.

Brendan Ogle, regional organiser with ATGWU, said if the company agreed to the minister's proposal, it would break collective agreements.

"We will be saying to Padraig McManus that we want to know, in your opinion, should ESB comply with it. If the answer is yes, it would be in breach of the collective agreement and that puts us in a dispute situation with the ESB, " he said yesterday.

Ogle says, under the collective agreement, the new plant should be run by existing staff at Aghada and its output sold into the grid.

He disputed the "spin" that the new plant would drive down prices for the consumer, arguing that none of ESB's rivals sell electricity to the domestic market.

"The proposal is to build new plant with public money and to sell it to the private sector. We're calling it a public subsidy to the private sector. It will drive down prices if you're a business, but not for Joe and Mary Bloggs."

Ogle added that his union would question whether ESB "should saddle themselves with this ball and chain" and he hoped that the four worker directors on the board of the company would be taking a "unified approach" to the issue.