Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to clear up those issues. The UK becoming a third country as a result of Brexit and the potential knock-on effects for settlement is a market issue that will require a market-led solution. Ultimately, CSDs are private market operators. Euronext Dublin, formerly the Irish Stock Exchange, announced in October 2018 that it would transfer the settlement of trades in Irish equities and other exchange traded instruments from CREST to Euroclear Bank Belgium. The National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and the Central Bank use the Euroclear Bank ICSD in Belgium for their monetary operations.

This legislation for the issuers that choose to avail of it will facilitate this migration. Issuers, however, are free to migrate to any CSD that complies with the requirements of the legislation. No CSD provider has come forward to offer this service in Ireland. The Central Bank, with funding from the European Commission, is finalising a CSD authorisation framework for use should a service provider look for authorisation in Ireland. In effect, it was a decision of what was the Irish Stock Exchange to move in this direction. There was a consultative process.

There was a question regarding why we do not have our own one. We did, but we had a joint one between Ireland and the UK. That was a single entity going back to 1995. There was interconnectivity, therefore, in respect of what was a much smaller market in Ireland. We used the UK system and we piggybacked on that because, going back to that period, it was not essential for us to have our own. At some point in the future, I would like an Irish CSD, but that is for the market to provide, if it sees fit and if the size and scale of the Irish market requires it.

I would like to clarify for Senator Burke that there will have to be a physical presence for a quorum.