Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion

Mr. Oliver Gilvarry:

In reality, because of the target size of €14 million, that will allow us to build that over a couple of years. With the scenario we had, in some ways, we looked at it that we have more time to build. The fiscal position is strong at the moment. We feel over the next year or 18 months that it is unlikely that we will need to draw down on the ICNF. It was better to basically put the money into the future Ireland fund because our whole aim is to get the returns on the returns and, therefore, putting money in there early in a bigger amount means that will then grow. By 2040, the compounding on that €4 billion is significant if we work it out on that. That was the rationale.