Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

As noted in the action plan for jobs, the strategic investment fund, SIF, whose establishment was announced by the Government in September 2011, will channel commercial investment from the National Pensions Reserve Fund, NPRF, towards productive investment in areas of strategic significance to the future of the Irish economy. As well as money from the NPRF, the SIF will seek matching commercial investment from private sector investors. It will comprise a series of sub-funds targeted at commercial investment in critical areas, including infrastructure, venture capital and provision of long-term capital for SMEs. The NPRF will take a lead role in the development and implementation of each sub-fund.

The NPRF's investment in the SIF will, like its existing investments, be on a commercial basis. Accordingly, such investment will not be classified as general Government expenditure in statistical terms and there will be no implications for the continued achievement of the general Government deficit targets we are committed to under the EU-IMF programme. Further investment by the NPRF in Ireland on a strictly commercial basis does not represent a material change in the purpose of the NPRF.

The resulting greater concentration of investment in Ireland on the part of the NPRF is expected to require the amendment of the NPRF's investment policy, which is set out in the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act 2000. Officials of my Department are liaising with the National Treasury Management Agency, as the manager of the NPRF, in identifying and drafting the necessary amendments to the legislation and I expect to bring forward proposals for amending legislation as soon as possible once that work is completed.

On the amount of money available in the National Pensions Reserve Fund, I am informed by the National Treasury Management Agency that, at 31 December last, the total value of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Discretionary Portfolio was €5.4 billion, of which €2.1 billion is in equities, €1.2 billion is in eurozone bonds and cash, and €2 billion is in alternative assets including private equity, property, commodities, infrastructure and absolute return funds.

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