The Taoiseach says the government will take a large amount of the ESB's profits to redistribute to people.
The energy company reported a trebling of after-tax profit for the first half of the year.
The ESB Group's reported a profit after tax of €390m for the first half of the year.
That's up from €128m for the same period last year.
A windfall tax on the profits of energy companies is being planned for the budget.
The ESB is majority owned by the State and says profits are re-invested in maintaining the network, renewable energy and other infrastructure.
The Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also says the government will be clawing back some of the large profits from the company.
