Ireland: Three-year pay freeze agreed at electricity company

Employees at Ireland's state-owned Electricity Supply Board (ESB) approved in August 2010 a three-year pay freeze as part of a deal to tackle the deficit of the company's occupational pension fund.

An actuarial review of the ESB pension scheme in late 2008 found that it had a deficit of around €2 billion, because of factors such as the impact of the global economic downturn on the scheme's assets and increases in average life expectancy.