Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
180. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if his Department or any of its agencies are involved in any exercise, operation, training or research which includes involvement by any Israeli state agency, any Israeli-based company or any company based elsewhere in the world which is owned or part-owned by any Israeli state agency or by any Israeli-based company. [51062/23]
View answerMy Department is not involved in any exercise, operation, training or research which includes involvement by an Israeli state agency, an Israeli-based company or any company anywhere in the world which is owned or part-owned by an Israeli stage agency or by an Israeli-based company. I would refer the Deputy to the reply which I gave to Dáil Questions 315 and 316 on 7 November as they relate to a similar topic.
Bodies under the aegis of my Department have advised below.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) understands this to mean the provision of services to the NTMA or training/research directly involving the NTMA. When contracting or engaging with third parties, the NTMA is not necessarily aware of their respective shareholders (other than as required under law or regulation) or all locations. In the above context, the NTMA is aware of the following:
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) had direct engagement in May 2021 with the Israeli Innovation Authority by email.
The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) is a member of EPEC (European PPP Expertise Centre), of which Israel is a member. The NDFA has previously shared PPP policy information with the Israeli Government’s PPP unit via EPEC.
NewERA have been in attendance at OECD Working Parties and at other fora where Israeli delegates would also have been in attendance.
As part of the OECD Working Party on Debt Management, the Funding and Debt Management unit of the NTMA work with all other OECD delegations in attendance on sharing information and discussing bond market developments and best practise. The Israeli delegation can, and does, contribute to these debates and exercises.
The International Tax Division of the Revenue Commissioners has regular engagement with the tax administrations and Ministries of Finance of other jurisdictions, including Israel, in the performance of its functions. This includes discharging Ireland’s obligations under double taxation agreements in respect of companies, including Israeli-based companies or affiliates thereof based in Ireland or in other countries with which Ireland has a double taxation agreement. Ireland’s double taxation agreement with Israel began to take effect from 1 January 1996.
Both Ireland and Israel are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and participate in fora, bodies, training and working parties facilitated by the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. Such fora and working bodies include the Forum on Tax Administration and its network the Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC), the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices. Working parties of these fora include those focusing on international taxation issues such as tax conventions, tax policy analysis and tax statistics, consumption taxes, exchange of information, and tax compliance and aggressive tax planning.
The Central Bank of Ireland is a member of the International Operational Risk Working Group (IORWG). Along with circa 100 other countries, Israel is represented on this group by the Bank of Israel as its national central bank. This can lead to Bank of Israel representatives being in attendance at IORWG meetings, and/or to Bank of Israel seeking direct bilateral feedback on occasion from the Central Bank.
In addition, Israeli delegates may also attend/engage various international fora and groups which the Central Bank is involved in (i.e. the Bank for International Settlements, the IMF Spring/Annual Meetings, etc.).
With regard to information technology contracts, the Central Bank of Ireland utilises tool sets named JFrog Artifactory and the security scanning tool, JFrog Xray, supplied by the JFrog company. These were first introduced to Central Bank in January 2019 to provide automated and continuous scanning of repository accessed code modules and to identify and prevent known security vulnerabilities and open source licensing violations from making it to production using the industry’s most comprehensive database, VulnDB. Both of these products are delivered through the commercial offering called JFrog Cloud Enterprise + Security Pack. The products are procured on an annual term basis through an EPCO (European Procurement Coordination Office) Framework at a current annual (Ex. VAT) cost of circa €15,000. Research indicates that the JFrog company is incorporated in Israel.
It has not been possible to conduct a comprehensive review of all contracts in the time allowed and the Central Bank is not aware of any other contracts in respect of which the supplier is an Israeli State Agency or an entity incorporated in Israel (or is part owned by either). The Central Bank will provide information to the Deputy if any further relevant contracts are identified.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) is not directly involved in any exercise, operation, training or research which includes involvement by any Israeli state agency, any Israeli-based company or any company based elsewhere in the world which is owned or part-owned by any Israeli state agency or by any Israeli-based company.
However, OCAG is a member of International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), which are autonomous, independent and non-political organisations. Israel is also a member of both organisations. As a member of both organisations, representatives of OCAG attend/present at a number of conferences/webinars.
