Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 November 2018
43. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance his views on the impact of block chain technology on the financial services industry here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46258/18]
View answerThere has been much discussion in recent years about Blockchain and the potential impact it may have on many sectors, such as the financial services industry. Blockchain technology, or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), is still in the early stages of development. Proof of concepts so far have shown the potential to deliver significant benefits in financial services and other sectors (supply chain, energy, even public services).
I am of the opinion that we must continue to monitor developments in this new technology, understand its possibilities, investigate how we can apply it to improve current business processes and products and in turn, how it can be used to strengthen the global competitiveness of the financial services sector in Ireland.
There have been a number of Blockchain related developments this year. In March 2018, the Department of Finance published its "Virtual Currencies and Blockchain Technology" discussion paper following extensive research into virtual currencies and the Blockchain ecosystem. The document aims to raise awareness in Ireland on the key risks and opportunities of Blockchain technology and virtual currencies, while also summarising the actions taken by other countries in this regard.
The "Irish Blockchain Expert Group", led by IDA Ireland, earlier this year launched "Blockchain Ireland", an online platform that serves as the go-to source of information on the Irish Blockchain ecosystem, assisting the promotion of Ireland as a Blockchain centre of excellence. Recently we have seen the establishment of firms in Ireland using Blockchain technology or offering Blockchain solutions to the financial services sector and other sectors.
As part of their Fintech Action Plan, published in March of this year, the European Commission announced that they are working on a comprehensive strategy for distributed ledger technology and Blockchain addressing all sectors of the economy.
From the beginning of IFS2020, the 2015 Government Strategy for the development of the international financial services sector, we recognised the increasing opportunities for Fintech and have had a number of target measures to support the development and growth of Fintech. Blockchain would be a sub-set of Fintech.
Since 2016, Enterprise Ireland has provided dedicated seed-funding for enterprises in the Fintech sector, through its Competitive Start Fund, to stimulate greater activity in enabling technology. The 2018 Fintech CSF was opened in June 2018 to early stage companies active in Fintech and Deep Tech (including Blockchain, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Data Intelligence, Cloud, AR/VR, and Quantum Computing).
The international financial services strategy from 2015 (IFS2020) is approaching the end of its lifetime and Government approval has been secured to begin work on a successor strategy for IFS. My Department is currently engaging with the public and key private sector stakeholders in the IFS industry to start the process of drafting a future strategy for international financial services in Ireland, and a public consultation has recently been completed. The role of Blockchain, and many other innovations and initiatives, will be considered in the context of this work.
While the Government has a significant role to play in providing support for technological adoption, the implementation of innovation solutions such as Blockchain will be industry-driven.
