Neale Richmond
Ceist:293. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Finance the status of the roll-out of the Ireland for Finance strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15108/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 14 July 2020
Ceisteanna (293)
Freagraí scríofa
The Ireland for Finance strategy was launched by the former Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael D’Arcy TD, and myself in April 2019. The launch was held in Iveagh House, and it was attended by a large number of executives and financial sector leaders from across the industry. A number of guests travelled from many different locations abroad for the launch. It attracted extensive media coverage, both domestically and internationally.
During the following months, the Minister of State undertook a number of visits to key global markets to launch the Strategy and to further promote Ireland as a top-tier location of choice for specialist international financial services. His itinerary included Brussels, London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. It included engagements with senior executives in firms across a range of financial services sectors in each city.
Since the launch of Ireland for Finance last year, there have been a number of significant financial services investments secured such as:
- Fundrock’s regional second site in Limerick was opened where it intends to employ 45 people
- Rimes decided to establish its first office in Ireland in Cork
- Japanese company JRI America Inc. announced that it will further expand its Technology Centre in Tralee, Co. Kerry, creating 100 new jobs over 5 years
- Australian company, EML Payments Limited decided to establish a Technology & Innovation Hub in Galway, employing 20 people
- Carne, an Irish founded global provider of fund management company solutions to the asset management industry, announced a significant expansion in its Irish operations, creating an additional 250 regional jobs over the next three years in the South East
- Opus Fund Services announced its decision to establish a regional second site in Wexford, creating 100 jobs
- DMS announced that it is to create 50 further jobs in Cashel and locate several global centres of excellence there
- Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group announced that it will create 120 new jobs in Cavan town over the next 3 years
- Mastercard announced its plans to create 1,500 jobs in the next three to five years as it significantly grows its new European Technology Hub in Dublin
- there were also openings of new or renovated offices by Deutsche Börse Group in Cork and Elavon in Arklow
Other highlights since the launch of the Ireland for Finance strategy include the establishment of a steering committee to oversee the development of the Fintech Foresight Group. This steering committee will be chaired by Brian Hayes, CEO of the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland. Fintech is a growth area for international financial services and we were pleased to submit our response to the European Commission’s recent consultation on Digital Finance.
Considerable work has also been done by the Industry Advisory Committee on establishing a Women in Finance Charter and I look forward to further developments on this initiative throughout the year. Research shows that diverse teams can improve the quality of decision-making, reduce groupthink and allow assumptions to be challenged more effectively, and this is why Diversity was included as a horizontal priority of the Ireland for Finance strategy.
Sustainable Finance was also highlighted as a horizontal priority of the Ireland for Finance strategy and there have been a number of developments in this space also. Ireland’s second Climate Finance Week was held in November 2019 with some 2,000 delegates attending 18 events over the week. All relevant industry representative associations supported Climate Finance Week, including the signing of a statement of intent to support the sustainable finance agenda within their organisations. As part of Climate Finance Week we also saw the launch of a deep dive review of future ESG skills report and the publication of the second Irish ESG State of Play report.
The fifth edition of the European Financial Forum was held on 12 February 2020 in Dublin Castle. The European Financial Forum is an annual event that showcases Ireland's international financial services environment to an international audience, and highlights the Government of Ireland’s commitment to the development of the international financial services sector. This year’s event was another great success where attendees heard from Mary Daly, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Norihiro Takahashi, President of the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan; Francisco Aristeguieta, CEO of International Business for State Street Corporation; and Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
You may recall that under the previous strategy for the development of international financial services, 'IFS2020' launched in 2015, there was an ambitious target of 10,000 net new jobs in the five year period to end 2019. The jobs figures as reported by the agencies, IDA and Enterprise Ireland, indicate an increase of approximately 11,500 net new jobs over the lifetime of the IFS2020 strategy to end-2019 meaning the strategy achieved additional 1,500 new jobs over the estimate. I am also pleased to report that one-third of these jobs are located in the regions outside of Dublin.
A draft Ireland for Finance Action Plan for 2020 was compiled in December 2019 but was not published before the General Election was called. As you will know, the Ireland for Finance strategy was included in the Programme for Government and the Action Plan for 2020 will also be considered by the recently appointed Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Jack Chambers TD, in light of developments such as Covid-19. We expect to bring the Ireland for Finance Action Plan for 2020 to Government for a decision in the near future.
We expect that Action Plan 2020, and those that follow, will be informed by the important work that the Ireland for Finance team have been carrying out with the European Commission and DG FISMA on FinTech and Sustainable Finance. The Commission is due to publish new strategies for both areas before the end of 2020 and as part of the consultation process, the Department of Finance has carried out a comprehensive engagement with all of the relevant stakeholders for these sectors in Ireland. The aim of this work has been to ensure that the international financial services sector in Ireland is best placed to respond to the job creation opportunities that the transition to a more digital and climate resilient future will present. By aligning the work of Ireland for Finance with the work of the Commission, the Department of Finance is positioning the sector to play an important role in the recovery of the economy, as a source of resilient and growing employment.
Question No. 294 answered with Question No. 275.