Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an gcoiste as a bheith linn le haghaidh an Bhille thábhachtaigh seo.

As members are aware, this Bill deals with sensitive and complex matters from a security point of view. The purpose of the Bill is to protect Ireland’s security and public order against threats emanating from investment from third countries. To achieve this, the Bill will empower the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to assess, investigate, authorise, condition or prohibit foreign investments based on a range of security and public order criteria and to prevent or mitigate such threats.

Establishing a formal investment screening mechanism represents an opportunity to design and tailor a system appropriate to Ireland’s needs and our approach will balance Ireland’s long-standing foreign direct investment strategy with an acknowledgment of the challenge posed by potentially hostile investments. The implementation of an investment screening mechanism will also provide reassurance to key trading partners that Ireland is a responsible global player, cognisant of the threat posed by the strategic and potentially hostile state-backed investment strategies being deployed by some third-country corporations. Ultimately, the development of an investment screening mechanism is in line with best international practice and is part of the broader trade defence toolkit of the European Union and Ireland. This toolkit includes our existing export controls regime, the implementation of sanctions, the EU’s international procurement instrument, a range of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures and the broader level playing field agenda.

I reassure the committee that this Bill in no way acts to dampen legitimate investment into Ireland. It is not envisaged that large numbers of transactions will require notification. Of those that are notified, it is likely that most will be quickly cleared without flagging any security or public order concerns. However, the Bill does provide a necessary safeguard against the actions of those who would do us harm or undermine our security.

Since the Bill completed Second Stage, we have had significant interest and engagement from key stakeholders, including many in the investment community, the legal sector, the enterprise agencies, the European Commission and bilateral trading partners. Based on these discussions and our own further research, we have identified a small number of amendments that are primarily technical in nature and which are designed to tighten up the operational processes, definitions and scope. This will ensure that the screening regime is focused on those transactions where the greatest likelihood of threats to security or public order arise. The amendments are also designed to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible to investors, ensuring that we are as clear as possible about the obligations and responsibilities which arise as a result of this legislation.

The proposed amendments, which we will detail later, focus on a number of areas. The first is ensuring that the definitions used throughout the Bill are as clear as possible. In particular, we have given attention to refining the definitions of “transactions”, “undertakings in the State” and “control”. This will ensure that only those transactions where risks are perceived fall within the scope of the Bill.

The second is refining the criteria relating to notifiable transactions to ensure that they are understood and interpreted correctly. Based on our consultations, we believe these changes will help minimise the number of unwanted notifications and will focus attention on the acquiring party, which is where most risks arise. These changes will also help to reduce the administrative burden and allow the State’s resources to be more efficiently utilised.

Finally, the amendments tidy up a small number of procedural issues. For example, they simplify the calculation for the date on which a screening review is commenced. These changes will make the regime as easy to understand as possible for investors. No policy change is envisaged as a result of any of these amendments. As I have said, I will go through each in detail as we reach it. I thank the officials from the trade regulation and investment screening unit who are here with me today: Mr. Eamonn Cahill, principal officer; Mr. Conor Hand, assistant principal officer; Mr. Scott Foley, higher executive officer; and Ms Carol Toolan, assistant principal officer. I also thank the Chairman and the committee secretariat for their assistance.