ESB boss gets 29% pay rise
Gordon Deegan
The ESB has given its chief executive, Paddy Hayes, a pay increase of just under €92,000 after receiving ministerial approval to do so.
The new approved salary of €410,000 represents an increase of €91,917 - or 29 per cent - on Hayes’s 2025 salary.
A spokesman for the ESB stated: “the sanction for an increase in annual salary to €410,000 reflects the scale, scope and complexity of ESB's operations."
In 2025, Hayes oversaw the ESB generate a pre-tax profit of €749.7 million on revenues of €6.73 billion as employee numbers increased to 9,968.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Jack Chambers, sanctioned the pay increase for Hayes on July 6th.
Chambers approved the salary increase following a recommendation by the Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien.
A spokeswoman for the department said: “The decision confirms an approach covering a three-year period, which will be subject to annual performance review against key performance indicators.”
Chairperson of ESB, Terence O’Rourke welcomed the ministers' approval and said: “ESB continues to deliver on its ambitious strategy, supporting Ireland’s social and economic development, delivering infrastructure, empowering customers, and developing and connecting renewable generation.”
A spokesman for the ESB confirmed that Hayes’s new salary came into effect on July 6th.
The spokesman said that increase in pay is the first since 2011 for the chief executive of the ESB and follows a review of executive pay arrangements for CEOs of commercial state bodies by an independent Senior Posts Remuneration Committee.
To date, the Government has sanctioned pay increases for 19 chief executives of commercial state bodies, and four proposals are currently under consideration for the CEOs of RTÉ, TG4, Coillte and Drogheda Port.
Pay rises have been signed off for CEOs at commercial state bodies including Bórd na Móna, Uisce Éireann, Iarnród Eireann, Bus Éireann, Bus Átha Cliath, CIÉ, Dublin Port Company, Shannon Airport Group, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), Irish National Stud, Port of Cork, VHI, the Land Development Agency (LDA), Port of Waterford, An Post, AirNav Ireland, Irish Aviation Authority and daa.
