State-Sponsored Bodies
State-Sponsored Bodies (SSBs) are "Bodies with powers and duties set by either statutes or Ministerial authority, whose staff are not civil servants and to whose governing Boards or councils the relevant Minister, with the approval and/or consent of the Minister for Finance, appoints all of the Members".
They are "Usually established by or under statue or, in some cases, registered under the Companies Acts and are" either "self-financing or financed wholly or partly by grants or loans made by Ministers or by the issue of shares taken up by Ministers".
They can by either commericial, non-commerical or regulatory:
- Commercial SSBs produced goods and services sold directly to the public and should be self-financing from their trading activities
- Non-commercial SSBs are categorised as being either advisory/research or developmental and are exchequer-funded (although some also charge fees/levies for their services
- Regulatory Offices are responsible for overseeing competition in market areas dominated by one player.
The Department has 24 of these bodies under its aegis, which includes:
- Seven commercial bodies
- Four non-commercial bodies
- One central and seven regional fisheries boards
- Four regulatory offices
- One cross-border body
Information on Boards of State Sponsored bodies under the aegis of the Department is held in a central repository within www.eGovernance.ie. The system generates the Monthly Vacancies Report which is required by the Minister therefore all information is required to be accurate and up-to-date.
Corporate Governance Unit
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Elm House, Cavan