Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Public Sector

Public Sector

Online ISSN: 2811-6186
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Introduction

The Register of Public Sector Bodies in Ireland 2025 - Final provides the basis for the preparation of Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) reporting for Ireland. The Register lists all the organisations in the State which are classified as “general government” bodies for the purposes of national and government accounts. It also lists organisations which, while under public control, are not part of the general government sector but are part of the public sector. The distinction between the general government and public sectors is explained in the Public Sector paragraph below.

The Register has been updated since it was last published with results from the survey of local government undertaken in May 2026. See the Background Notes for further information including an outline of the methodology for statistical classifications decisions.

Previous publications of the Register can be seen on the CSO Website.

Public Sector

The public sector in Ireland comprises general government and all corporations (financial or non-financial) which are under public control.

The general government sector (S.13) is made up of central government (S.1311), local government (S.1313) and social security funds (S.1314). It is the set of all bodies which are institutional units, controlled by government and are non-market. The Background Notes outline the criteria and the steps in the statistical classification decision making process.

Figure 1.1 below illustrates the breakdown of the public sector comprising 885 public sector bodies.

Public Corporations in the non-financial (S.11) or financial (S.12) sectors are defined as public when controlled by government.

Public entities which do not cover at least 50% of their operational costs from their own sources of income are classified in the general government sector as they are deemed to be non-market entities in nature. These agencies (358) are included in Figure 1.1 under non-commercial agencies.

Public corporations which do cover at least 50% of their operational costs from their own sources of income are classified in the commercial public corporations sector as they are deemed to be market entities. These corporations (360) are in Figure 1.1 under the commercial non-financial corporations and commercial financial corporations.

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

Figure 1.1 Breakdown of Public Sector