In recent years ESB has been considering options in relation to its property on Fitzwilliam Street. The building, parts of which were constructed in the 1950's, is very inefficient and is expensive to maintain.

ESB has prepared proposals to redevelop the existing site as this offers the best long term solution, both from an architectural and business perspective, and as a result, will shortly enter the planning process for its proposals.

Construction could commence as soon as 2016, subject to the planning process and subsequent business case approval.

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The project will be self-financing through energy and maintenance savings, lease income and savings on avoided rental costs in other buildings. The projected savings are in addition to the €280m cost reduction target that the company has already committed to achieve by 2015 and will help us to remain competitive in the all islands energy market. As the project will be self-financing this will not affect the price of electricity or gas for customers.

The new design by award winning Irish architects Grafton Architects and O'Mahony Pike Architects re-interprets, but at the same time respects, the surrounding architectural heritage. After careful consideration of the Georgian Streetscape, the proposal is to deliver a building that is respectful to its history, sensitive to its surroundings and representative of its own time.

The new building will double existing capacity and will accommodate an additional 1,400 workspaces. This will create a space for another large employer to come into the area, helping to address the need for high-quality commercial property in Dublin's city centre.

(CD/JP)