Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I raised this issue earlier this year with the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath. He accepted that I made a fair point and undertook to have the issue re-examined. It relates to a judgment of the European Court of Justice in 2022 relating to public access to the register of beneficial ownership of companies. As Minister for Finance, he signed a statutory instrument, SI 308/23, the European Union (Anti -Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023. It means that journalists and others can only access the register if they can show the company is linked to people convicted of money laundering or terrorist financing. Otherwise they cannot access the register.

This means there is a complete absence of transparency. Other European countries, such as France and Latvia, have completely ignored the judgment. There have been a variety of approaches across the EU, with Ireland taking the most restrictive approach and basically shutting down the register from scrutiny. Huge State contracts are being awarded, for example, and sometimes there is dubious beneficial ownership that cannot be established. Will the Taoiseach look at this with a view to making some changes as a matter of urgency?

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