The Tánaiste has said the state will take back some of the bumper profits from the ESB.
The company reported after tax profit trebled in the first half of the year to 390 million euro.
The ESB is majority owned by the State and says profits are re-invested in maintaining the network, renewable energy and other infrastructure.
But Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says the government will be clawing back some of the large profits from the company:
"The Government should take back some of the big profits that some of the energy companies are making. When it comes to ESB, we can do that through one of two ways, either a windfall tax or taking a bigger dividend from the company because it is owned by the people ultimately. And we would use that money then to help bring down costs for families and businesses and that's what we intend to do".
