Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 10, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "Amendment of section 7(4) of Act of 1994

8.Section 7(4) of the Act of 1994 is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

"(aa) the degree to which the investment limited partnership will make a positive contribution to civil, social, economic or cultural life within the State;".".

The Bill is offered as a modernisation of our laws in respect of certain private investment funds, essentially to allow them to join together in a new type of legal personality that allows them to invest together without being held liable for each other's losses at the same time. The Minister has described the legislation as a key part of the Ireland for Finance strategy. He stated, "Ireland's success in attracting top-tier global financial services is set against an increasingly dynamic and competitive backdrop."We are essentially talking about passing a law to better facilitate the growth of private investment in this country and to allow these investment funds to come together to further seek and achieve greater profitability. This is a key and explicit policy goal for the Government. My amendments propose to set the kinds of conditions we will expect in return. I echo some of the concerns expressed in recent weeks about the Government's legislative priorities. I question why legislation like this is being scheduled and is moving through the Houses when we still await many important legislative commitments made in the programme for Government. It speaks volumes that a law designed to advantage a small number of private investors, operating at an already high level of profitability, is being debated today over other important legislation related to climate change or even the surely more pressing creation of the corporate enforcement authority, all of which are listed on the Government's autumn legislative programme. It also speaks to something more fundamental about the perspectives underlying the Government that, at a time when global solidarity is so needed and the demands on our Parliament so high due to the pandemic, Members are here debating a law to attract more private investment funds to the country, while at the same time nothing is being offered in many other areas in need of reform. This needs to be said and I am disappointed that this is the legislation to which priority is being given.

My amendments relate to the same issue. If, as a State and as a Parliament, we are going to go so far as to change the law simply so private investment funds can consolidate and further pursue profits, we all want to know what these funds will do in return for the favourable legislative environment we are gifting them. At a time when Ireland is drawing much attention internationally for being a centre of international tax avoidance by multinational companies and private equity actors, it seems more than fair to ask what these firms offer in return to the real people living here in our communities, beyond direct employment in the firms themselves. If investment partnerships benefit from the kind of measures contained in the Ireland for Finance strategy and this Bill, they need to be required to pay a social or environmental dividend back to the State in which they operate.

Amendment No. 2 would empower the Central Bank, when considering applications to allow the formation of a new investment limited partnership, to set conditions that would ensure that the new investment fund partnership actually made a positive contribution to civil, social, economic or cultural life within the State. If we as the State are going the distance to facilitate the creation of these new legal vehicles, it seems entirely fair that we would ask such funds to also describe how they will use their investment policies to support the lives of citizens and communities living here. It could be as straightforward as demonstrating they will support local community initiatives and sports clubs. These funds need to show that they are here not just for the favourable investment climate or low tax rates but that they are willing to work to improve the lives of people in Ireland in exchange for the kind of beneficial legal personalities we give them here.

Amendment No. 3 is straightforward. It would give the Central Bank a role in determining the degree to which the investment policies of a new proposed investment partnership would support initiatives that contribute to our efforts to fight climate change. It is ironic that he is no longer a Member of the House, as it was former Senator Michael D'Arcy who actually inspired the tabling of this amendment. He did so on Second Stage, when he commented that: "investors are [significantly] ahead of everyone else ... because, If we destroy the world through climate change, there will be no world economy". Through this amendment, I am proposing that if it is the case that the thinking of investors is so well developed and conscious of their investment policies related to the combating of climate change, let us then make it an explicit legal requirement that they must demonstrate this before giving them this favourable legal investment vehicle. It should be easy for the investors that former Senator D'Arcy was talking about to demonstrate this to an appropriate level to the Central Bank. Consequently, I am proposing that we make it a condition for granting this new form of partnership.

These are two sensible and straightforward amendments relating to the kinds of conditions we will set before we grant these new investment partnerships to groups of private investment funds. It seem fair that if the Government plans to give them a favourable legal environment in which to invest, then they should have to demonstrate how they will use these favourable conditions to the common good of the people and communities who live in Ireland and to assist in our collective challenge to combat the climate and biodiversity crisis.I hope the Minister of State can accept the amendments.