Irish Government

The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach, and a deputy prime minister called the Tánaiste. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President after being designated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). The President then appoints the remaining ministers after they have been chosen by the Taoiseach and approved by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence of the Dáil if it is to remain in office.

State-Sponsored Bodies

Main article State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland

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The Government has also set up serveral state sponsored bodies (also known as semi-state companies or nationalised industries). These typically operate as a commercial companies, although they may have a state subvention to provide their services. They fall into two categories:

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Statutory Corporations

State-sponsored bodies may be organised as statutory corporations, meaning that they are offically non-profit and do not formally have shareholders, but are a board appointed by the sponsor Minister. Corporations of this type include:

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• Coras Iompair Éireann
• Electricity Supply Board
• Radio Telefís Éireann

Companies with the Government as shareholder

Others may be organised as public limited companies or private limited companies. These are incorporated with the Companies Registration Office (Ireland) as companies, but their sole (or sometimes majority) shareholder is their sponsor minister. Some of these are exempt from the requirement to carry limited, teoranta, plc, or cpt as part of their company name. Examples include:

Related Topics:
Public limited companies - Private limited companies - Companies Registration Office (Ireland)

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• An Post (The Post Office).
• Bord na Mona plc
• Dublin Airport Authority plc
• Aer Lingus Group plc.
• Coillte Teoranta (The Irish Forestry Board Limited).

Several state-sponsored bodies have been privatised of recent years. Examples of former state-sponsored bodies include Greencore, Irish Life Assurance, Eircom, ACCBank, and ICC Bank.

Related Topics:
Privatised - Greencore - Irish Life Assurance - Eircom - ACCBank - ICC Bank

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