The central government sector (S.1311) includes all bodies established through political processes and for whose activities a Minister of government or other responsible person is accountable to the people through the Oireachtas. This responsibility extends to the presentation of detailed audited annual accounts to the Oireachtas. Central government includes legislative, judicial and executive bodies established in this manner. The sector does not include public corporations or enterprises engaged in the production of commercial services or goods. The main categories of central government bodies are:
See Background Notes for more information.
Figure 1.1 in the Public Sector chapter displays a breakdown of the Register by subsector.
A complete list of the Register in excel and csv formats are available here Register of Public Sector Bodies 2025 - Final Table 1.1 (XLS 61KB) and Register of Public Sector Bodies 2025 - Final Table 1.1 csv.
An annual survey of all central government departments is undertaken jointly by the CSO and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. This survey was issued to all central government departments in February 2026 to capture data for the reference year 2025.
This survey updated the Register for the April 2026 publication. The survey obtained information required to establish the statistical classification of all bodies under the aegis of these government departments. The updated information is set out in tables below. The next central government survey will take place in January 2027.
Departments, Votes, Extra-Budgetary Funds, Non-Commercial Agencies and Commercial Corporations are shown in the tables below. The tables below provide a breakdown for each central government department by ESA sub sector, type of funding for statistical classification purposes, all public bodies under their aegis by entity name. The tables also provide the vote number for all vote groups and lists the ultimate parent entity (if applicable, otherwise it will be left blank) where the entity is a subsidiary of a group.
In total there are 612 bodies in central government. Figure 3.1 provides a breakdown per department of all Votes, Extra-Budgetary Funds, Non-Commercial Agencies and Commercial Corporations under the aegis of all central government departments.
| Department | Commercial Non-Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Extra-Budgetary Fund | Non-Commercial Agency under the aegis of Department | Vote | Commercial Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Social Security Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Food and the Marine | 18 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Children, Disability and Equality | 1 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Climate, Energy and the Environment | 185 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Culture, Communications and Sport | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Defence | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Education and Youth | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterprise, Tourism and Employment | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Finance | 0 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | 7 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Health | 7 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Housing, Local Government and Heritage | 3 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Justice, Home Affairs and Migration | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Protection | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Transport | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| the Taoiseach | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Department | Commercial Non-Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Extra-Budgetary Fund | Non-Commercial Agency under the aegis of Department | Vote | Commercial Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Social Security Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Food and the Marine | 18 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Children, Disability and Equality | 1 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Climate, Energy and the Environment | 185 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Culture, Communications and Sport | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Defence | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Education and Youth | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterprise, Tourism and Employment | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Finance | 0 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | 8 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Health | 7 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Housing, Local Government and Heritage | 3 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Justice, Home Affairs and Migration | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Protection | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Transport | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| the Taoiseach | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Department | Commercial Non-Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Extra-Budgetary Fund | Non-Commercial Agency under the aegis of Department | Vote | Commercial Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Social Security Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Food and the Marine | 18 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Children, Disability and Equality | 1 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Climate, Energy and the Environment | 185 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Culture, Communications and Sport | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Defence | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Education and Youth | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterprise, Tourism and Employment | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Finance | 0 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | 8 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Health | 7 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Housing, Local Government and Heritage | 3 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Justice, Home Affairs and Migration | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Protection | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Transport | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| the Taoiseach | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Department | Commercial Non-Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Extra-Budgetary Fund | Non-Commercial Agency under the aegis of Department | Vote | Commercial Financial Corporation under the aegis of Department | Social Security Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Food and the Marine | 18 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Children, Disability and Equality | 1 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Climate, Energy and the Environment | 185 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Culture, Communications and Sport | 5 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Defence | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Education and Youth | 0 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterprise, Tourism and Employment | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Finance | 0 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | 8 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Health | 7 | 2 | 49 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Housing, Local Government and Heritage | 3 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Justice, Home Affairs and Migration | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Social Protection | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Transport | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| the Taoiseach | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
The CSO has classified a number of organisations providing health and personal social services, as services provided and funded on behalf of government. This classification review is available on the CSO website here – Classification of Bodies Providing Health and Personal Social Services - CSO - Central Statistics Office.
The review identified the Health Service Executive (HSE) as having formal arrangements with a number of Section 38 and 39 Organisations that provide health and personal social services under Section 39 of the Health Act, 2004. These organisations receive high levels of funding from government with stringent conditions and most of their services are provided on behalf of government. The formal arrangement includes the provision of funding from the HSE to the providers of these services. The funding for these services was transferred from the Department of Health (Vote 38) to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Vote 40). The funding primarily relates to the HSE for the costs of providing specialist community-based Disability Services, with the exception for one entity in the list. In this case, most of the funding comes from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. See Background Notes for further information.
Table 3.19 sets out organisations that provide health and personal services on behalf of government and are classified in the central government sector.
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