Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her amendment which I cannot accept, the reasons for which I will outline. I simply do not believe it would work. The assets of the National Pensions Reserve Fund will be transferred to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and they will then be invested in Ireland in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment. However, it is clearly not practical to expect the agency to invest the full €6.9 billion available to it in Ireland the day the section is commenced. Subsection (3) of section 39 allows for this. The agency can invest on a purely commercial basis, in other words, not focusing on the employment and economic benefits to the extent that it does not have investment opportunities that meet the economic and employment criteria immediately available to it. This will allow the agency to hold on to existing investments pending the identification of suitable investments consistent with the mandate of ISIF. The NPRF is currently invested on a commercial basis in Ireland and outside of Ireland.

The proposed amendment would, on the face of it, mean that these investments would have to be sold to the extent that they do not take account of social and economic benefits. This would contradict the purpose of the subsection and I cannot accept the amendment on that basis.

I note what Senator Kathryn Reilly is trying to achieve but it does not work to tell the agency that everything has to be invested in certain ways without taking into consideration commercial circumstances and would have the reverse effect of what is intended by risking potential benefit that could be used for employment and economic benefit.