Sir, – Joe Brennan reports that companies overseen by the National Treasury Management Agency paid €398 million in dividends to the exchequer last year (Business this Week, July 10th). Some of these companies, such as ESB, VHI and An Post, are operating in competitive marketplaces and it is appropriate that they should pay a dividend on profits generated to the Government as the main shareholder.Whether basic infrastructure companies such as EirGrid and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) should be paying dividends is questionable. Given the nature of what they do, should they be aiming to make any after-tax profit at all? It is clear that these companies need to continue to invest in the development of their networks, and need to generate enough money to be able to continue to do this. Regardless of which electricity or gas supplier residential customers choose, they are stuck with paying substantial standing charges that accrue to EirGrid and GNI. The dividends paid by these companies to the Government are trivial in the context of overall tax receipts of close to €100 billion annually. GNI, for example, paid a dividend of €62 million for last year and plans to pay an additional €66 million in the coming months. It would be far better if the Government was to forgo these dividends and the companies were to reduce their standing charges to customers, many of whom are struggling to pay their bills. Even a small reduction in the standing charges on customers’ bills would make a difference to many householders.The Commission for Regulation of Utilities is shortly to decide on network charges for the coming few years. Setting levels that allow these utilities to continue to invest in their networks, but no more, would be a small but significant step in battling the cost-of-living challenges for many households. – Yours, etc, BRIAN KELLEHER,Woodpark,Ballinteer,Dublin 16