Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 February 2019
19. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Finance the measures he plans to implement to place a particular focus on attracting investment in the international financial services sector to the regions and build regional financial services clusters in view of the further potential growth in financial services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9962/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government’s strategy to develop the international financial services sector, ‘IFS2020’, was launched in 2015. The annual Action Plans under the IFS2020 strategy for 2017, 2018 and 2019 included measures to support a regional development.
Employment in the sector under the IFS2020 Strategy has not been limited to Dublin. Over a third of the jobs are located in other areas of the country.
The sector has a significant presence in a number of regional locations including Cavan, Clare, Cork, Drogheda, Dundalk, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Letterkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.
A number of international financial services companies have chosen to build centres of excellence in regional locations in Ireland, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the higher staff retention rates associated with operations outside of Dublin.
The enterprise agencies actively promote the advantage of regional locations for the sector to both existing and target clients. IDA Ireland has an active ‘second site’ strategy where companies in Dublin are encouraged and supported to establish a second office in a regional location. Groups such as State Street in Kilkenny, Northern Trust in Limerick, MetLife in Galway and First Data in Nenagh have successfully established a regional presence through this channel. Other public sector bodies that are identified in Action Plan 2019 as supporting the enterprise agencies include my Department and the nine Regional Skills Fora established under the Action Plans for Jobs. The agencies will report in the fourth quarter of 2019 on this work to the public sector High Level Implementation Committee, which is chaired by Minister of State Michael D’Arcy TD.
Furthermore, Minister of State D’Arcy announced at the recent European Financial Forum in Dublin Castle that regionalisation will be a horizontal priority in the successor to the current strategy for international financial services. A number of action measures will be considered over the life of the future strategy and my officials will consult all stakeholders before undertaking annual action plans. The new Strategy and action plan will explore whether there are specific sectors of international financial services that can be identified and developed with the regions in mind.
