Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to raise the importance of the Irish Stock Exchange to the Irish economy and to the growth of our indigenous Irish companies. I welcome the commitments in the programme for Government to support the Irish Stock Exchange. However, I would like to see this commitment followed up with concrete action to ensure its growth and success. I am glad to see the Tánaiste met the Stock Exchange team on Tuesday and I hope he will take away some of their requests. I know a request is with the Minister for Finance for a meeting ahead of the budget.

Many brilliant companies have come through the Irish Stock Exchange, including Ryanair, Smurfit Kappa and the Dalata Hotel Group. The Irish Stock Exchange also supports a thriving ecosystem of brokers, advisers and legal services, etc. Ireland has been losing out by not supporting more indigenous enterprises to access private capital through public markets, which is evidenced by the relatively small number of IPOs here over the past decade. Many Irish companies choose to go abroad, particularly to the US. I know the Government is prioritising improving our competitiveness. I suggest a vibrant stock exchange here in Dublin is essential to achieving those goals. If we are serious about growing our indigenous enterprise base, we must build the right environment to allow companies to scale using all sources of capital, including public equity markets.

The programme for Government commits to exploring ways to enhance the Irish Stock Exchange as a vital source of equity and growth for indigenous businesses. This must now be backed by decisive action. Ahead of budget 2026, I urge the Government to deliver on these commitments by building on the progress made in budget 2025. Specifically, Euronext Dublin has proposed targeted, relevant and costed measures for budget 2026 that would support more Irish companies to accelerate their growth by raising finance in capital equity markets by way of IPO. These proposals include introducing a stamp duty exemption on the trading of shares in companies valued under €1 billion; increasing the lifetime limit for capital gains tax entrepreneur relief by €1 million to €2 million, specifically for disposal of shares on approved EEA markets; creating an incentivised saving and investment account scheme; and establishing an Irish equity market growth fund to provide equity finance to companies listed or intended to list on Irish markets, with a particular focus on Irish scale-ups.

Ireland currently employs a stamp duty of 1% on the trading of shares. However, Ireland's rate is an outlier when compared with other European states, many of whom have a 0% rate or at most, a 0.2% or 0.3% rate. Stamp duty should be exempted from the trading of shares for smaller and mid-cap companies. In Ireland, none of our retail banks offer equity products to retail investors. In the UK, the ISA is used widely by people to save money and let it grow over many years. In Ireland, there is €60 billion sitting in current accounts losing value. This is money that could be put to work and would allow people to generate additional income over the years, while incentivising financial security. An Irish saving and investment account would help achieve this. I look forward to hearing from the Minister about his planned engagement with Euronext Dublin and the Government's plan to support this vital source of equity capital ahead of budget 2026.

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