Apologies have not yet been received from any committee members but I am sure we will hear them before the meeting is over. Senator Paschal Donohoe has a proposal regarding the preparation of a report on the operation of sovereign wealth funds, EU policy and the implications for Ireland. That sounds like bread, butter, meat and grist for the mill. I ask Senator Paschal Donohoe to speak on his own behalf.
Business of Joint Committee.
What we have is a proposal to prepare a report on the operation of sovereign wealth funds. I will briefly explain what they are and how they are relevant to this committee.
Is Senator Donohoe going to explain that here?
Yes. A sovereign wealth fund is——
It is money anyway.
It is an amount of money controlled by the Government. The best example in Ireland is the national pension fund, which is an amount of money equal to all our pension liabilities that the Government invests for the future. At the moment interest is an issue because around 2% of all global assets are in such funds. Norway has a big sovereign wealth fund and they were in the news at the beginning of the year because China used its funds to buy big stakes in the American banks.
I propose this matter for a report by this committee because the European Commission is trying to develop a joint policy in the area to give European countries with sovereign wealth funds guidance on how to invest abroad. It also wants to develop a policy to help respond to countries that wish to invest in the European Union. I propose that I conduct a report on what the policy is, the effect it will have on Ireland and the opportunities it will create.
I formally second that.
That sounds like an excellent piece of work for the Senator to get his teeth into. We look forward to seeing the evidence of his efforts in due course. Is that agreed? Agreed.