The data from the Department of Finance show that in 2002 Mr McCreevy was paid €62 million from State-owned companies, compared to €51.7 million the year before.

The increase in dividends has been caused by two factors: some firms have been forced to pay more, while others which never paid before have been forced to make a contribution.

Topping the table for dividend payments was the ESB whose €37.7 million contribution for 2002 was the highest dividend paid in the last 2½ years. This was the first dividend paid by the company for several decades.

According to the figures - released following a Freedom of Information application - several State firms paid no dividend between January 2001 and June 2003. Among these were An Post, Aer Lingus, Bord Na Móna, RTÉ, Coillte and CIÉ. Firms that pay a dividend tend to be those most often cited as potential candidates for privatisation.

While ESB's €37.7 million represented a very large dividend, the strongest contributor over the last 2½ years has been Bord Gáis Éireann, which has regularly paid out about 33 per cent of its after-tax profits.

Companies that have come into the dividend net recently include Aer Rianta which last week declared a dividend of €7.2 million for 2002, which represented 20 per cent of its after-tax profits. The Department says payment of this is "forthcoming".

The Irish Aviation Authority has also consistently managed to pay a dividend, even though the amounts are small.

In 2001, it paid over € 1.1 million, while in 2002 it paid slightly less at €1.07 million. While this amount was very small compared with the ESB, it represented 24 per cent of the authority's after-tax profits.

While firms have been paying more and new contributors have helped the Department's books, some companies are no longer making any contribution and have left the State sector.

The most recent example of this was ACC Bank which paid its last dividend in 2002 of €2.5 million. That represented 11.7 per cent of its after-tax profits. It was sold to the Dutch Rabobank in December 2001 for €165 million. The dividend was actually declared in 2001 but only paid over in 2002.

The Department is shortly expected to conduct a wide-ranging review of its dividend policy with increasing pressure coming on companies to make a contribution.

The main problem, however, is that so few State companies now are making large profits apart from Bord Gáis and the ESB and possibly Aer Lingus.