Mr. Conor O'Kelly:

We cannot make public the commitments that have not yet been drawn down and finalised. There is, therefore, a lag between those. Let us take the €800 million as commitments. On the Deputy's question on why more has not been drawn down. When the fund was set up, I said at the launch that I hoped none of the money would be drawn down. This was not a target. A fund worth €2 billion was made available in the hope that it would not be needed, not that it would be needed. This was designed for companies that ran into difficulty due to the pandemic. The longer companies struggled and the more sectors that struggled, the more we would be needed. As we see from all the available data, the economy is, thankfully, recovering quickly in the majority of sectors. There are only a minority of sectors still affected by the pandemic, including the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. One can, therefore, imagine that they tend to be the focus but it is my hope that the funds will not be drawn down.

In addition, we are seen as an investor of last resort. These companies are well managed and have their own shareholder base and financial providers. If they need money, they can approach other providers of capital; it does not have to be the Government. The Government is there as a safety net and the provider of investment capital of last resort. Many companies are incredibly well managed and in good shape, and do not require the State's help thankfully. My hope is that there will not be much more drawn down and we will get back to the original business of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is investing in key priority themes such as housing and regional development.