The exchequer received €398 million in dividends last year from taxpayer-owned companies overseen by the unit at the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) that is responsible for most semi-State businesses.
It marked a 24 per cent increase on payments made by these companies to the Government coffers in the previous year.
NewEra’s portfolio of 24 State-owned companies ranges from An Post to health insurer VHI. The €398 million figure was confirmed by a spokesman for the NTMA, clarifying commentary in the report on the timing of the payments.
The increase was mainly driven by higher dividends paid by airport operator DAA, which runs Dublin and Cork airports, and EirGrid, which manages the national electricity network, the report said.
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DAA paid a dividend of €68 million last year, more than double what it handed over to the Government in 2024, when it resumed payouts for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. DAA said in April that it planned to pay a €66 million dividend in 2026 on last year’s earnings.
EirGrid paid €54 million of dividends late last year – including a special €50 million payment – in respect of earnings for its financial period to the end of September.
ESB handed over the biggest dividend among State companies, totalling €189 million. It said in March that it planned to pay €149 million on last year’s result, which would bring total dividends to almost €2 billion since 2014.
Elsewhere, Gas Networks Ireland paid €62 million in dividends last year and said on Monday that it plans to pay a further €66 million in the coming months – equating to 45 per cent of its net profit or 2025.
NewEra was set up 15 years ago, when the State was subject to an international bailout, to advise the Government on the management of its shareholding in various semi-State companies, focusing on corporate governance and funding.
The combined operating profit of the 24 NewEra portfolio companies, which also include Uisce Éireann, Coillte and Bord na Móna, rose 28 per cent in 2025 to €2.4 billion, the NTMA report said.
“There was an increased level of capital investment in 2025, with the gross capital expenditure increasing by 24 per cent to €6.1 billion,” it said, adding that this was driven by ESB and the Land Development Agency.
