Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 5 July 2023

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Sovereign Wealth Funds: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Matthew McGann:

It is fair to say that is all still in the mix and will require a policy decision. Even when we launched the paper, the Minister was clear that he will have to go back to Government and those kind of things are still to be decided. However, I note that Professor Kinsella and – I do no want to get his name wrong – the representative from the Norwegian fund, Mr. Gjedrem, both highlighted the importance of having robust structures around the potential drawdown.

With most of the funds internationally, that is the case.

I will take the opportunity to put in a little plug here. We have a seminar next Tuesday, hosted in the Central Bank, at which we will have a couple of experts, including the CEO of the New Zealand fund. He will be talking about many of these issues and New Zealand's experience in setting up a similar fund, which it has had going for about 20 years. I think all the members of the committee received invites. They will need to register by the end of this week if they hope to attend.