State-owned enterprise sector, 2019

Table 1 provides an overview of the basic financial performance of the main Irish state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for the 2018 financial year. As highlighted in previous reviews, the results demonstrate the considerable contribution of the SOE sector to the Irish economy. Aggregate turnover for the fourteen companies included in Table 1 was equivalent to approximately 4 per cent of GNI* in 2018, while almost 40,000 people were employed overall. The SOE sector also plays a key role in delivering much needed investment in public infrastructure. In 2018 over €2.5 billion in aggregate capital expenditure was carried out by the SOEs included in Table 1, and many of these companies are at the heart of planned increases in public capital investment over the next few years. In addition, a number of SOEs continue to make a significant contribution to Exchequer finances through the payment of dividends. Just over €262 million in dividends was transferred to the Exchequer in 2018, bringing the total amount paid by the SOEs included in Table 1 between 2008 and 2018 to over €2.85 billion.2