Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
68. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance the amount of funding provided under the capital plan for the connectivity fund; the amount spent to date; the progress which has been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18834/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI would refer the Deputy to my response to his question, which I answered on Thursday 6 April last, where I set out how the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which manages the Connectivity Fund, seeks to support the objectives of the Capital Plan. The Capital Plan itself is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and the other Government Departments concerned.
In my recent response I informed the Deputy that in accordance with its double bottom line mandate to invest, on a commercial basis, to create employment and economic growth in Ireland, ISIF's investment strategy and its activities are closely aligned with and support Government policy across a wide range of areas, including: housing, the agri-sector, communications and energy.
ISIF has already committed €2.7 billion and it acts as a catalyst for other investors to invest in Irish projects. This includes a commitment of €361 million to Infrastructure investment essential to the future competitiveness of the Irish economy. In addition, ISIF's ability to attract co-investment from the private sector means that €7 billion of total investment has been committed up to end December 2016.
Only a certain amount of any capital investment programme can be deliverable via either direct Government expenditure or traditional, proven sources of commercial investment such as PPPs. Therefore, in the course of implementing its investment strategy and conducting its activities, ISIF has been playing an important role, as both an investor and as a catalyst for private investment, in respect of the capital plan, Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment, 2016-2021.
As a public fund, it is important to the ISIF's success that the commercial investment decisions taken under its mandate are consistent with Government policy. In this regard, ISIF's investment policy dovetails with Government policy while also, critically, maintaining the commercial mandate which is at ISIF's core.
In this way, ISIF plays an important role as a key link between Government, semi-State bodies and the private sector. Such a strategic position is important for the continued investment in Ireland's infrastructure and, indeed our future economic growth and expansion.
Turning to the Connectivity Fund specifically it was established as a sub-fund of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to invest the €335 million proceeds from the sale of the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus with the aim of enabling and enhancing Ireland's physical, virtual and energy connectivity.
As at 31 March 2017 the ISIF has completed the first two investments from this fund with a combined value of €57m.
- ISIF announced a $25 million (c. €22 million) equity investment in Aqua Comms DAC, the operator of Ireland's first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network. The cable lands in Killala County Mayo and interconnects New York, Dublin and London. Aqua Comms is a provider of data connectivity and bandwidth infrastructure services for content providers, cloud-based networks, data centres, IT companies and the global media. Its network will be used by major multinational technology and telecoms companies to provide fast, secure data connections between Ireland, the US and UK and will enable the continued growth of the Irish digital economy.
- ISIF also rolled an existing (National Pensions Reserve Fund) commitment in daa plc's public bond, which was issued in 2008 (repayable in 2018), into a €35 million commitment in a new 2028 public bond issuance by daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork Airports. This continues ISIF's role as a long-term, strategic, domestic investor in daa. Given the nature of the underlying business of daa, and the fact that the new bond issuance provides the underpinning long-term financing for the company, the ISIF commitment to the 2028 bond is considered suited to inclusion under the Connectivity Fund.
Several other Connectivity Fund investment opportunities are currently being assessed under the ISIF's "double bottom line" mandate, which is to seek both commercial return and economic impact. These connectivity opportunities include potential investments in energy, air, sea and further data connectivity projects and businesses seeking to expand and enhance Ireland's international links.
