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. Nick Ashmore:
The NTMA agency board will determine the appropriate level of risk and, therefore, the target return to achieve the objectives set down under the legislation. We do not have a legislative return target. There is a test in the legislation around the withdrawal of capital we will require if the fund has failed to return a greater return over a ten-year period than the cost of the debt. There will be an ability to withdraw capital from the fund. We think that is a very unlikely scenario. It is only from 2040 onwards. However, that level of return and the risk adjusted return is determined by the agency and then that will, in turn, be delivered by the executive reporting into the agency and held accountable to achieve that return by the agency on behalf of the Government.