Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. The legislative basis for all of the investments made by ISIF is the NTMA Act 2014. Those investments are provided for within the investment policy and strategy. I have no evidence to suggest that any investment ISIF has in its global portfolio is illegal or does not have a sound legal basis. I wish to be clear on that point.

As the Senator has acknowledged, the NTMA has recently divested from certain investments in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ISIF director outlined that at the end of 2023, ISIF's direct investments in companies on the UN database totalled approximately €4.2 million in 11 companies. He also outlined that ISIF's indirect investments include eight companies totalling approximately €9.4 million. ISIF has since taken an investment decision to divest from six of those companies with a total value of approximately €2.95 million. The six companies include a number of banks and a supermarket chain. I understand that the divestment process has now been completed.

Following the recent divestment on the basis of the risk which presented, ISIF will continue to keep under review the alignment of relevant investments within its investment parameters and commercial objectives. In practice, this means that if any other investments have, or are later found to have, the same risk characteristics as those six companies, those other investments will then also fall for consideration for divestment.

The Senator mentioned the recent pre-legislative scrutiny report from the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in respect of the Private Members' Bill. The committee report recommended that a national list be drawn up. I have asked my officials to examine that report. I am happy to have engagement in respect of that to see how we can advance the issue. It is an important report and I am conscious that the committee gave detailed consideration to complex issues. I thank all the committee members for that.

I point to the statutory independence of ISIF. It is subject to the oversight of its investment committee and the board of the NTMA. Under statute, the Minister for Finance does not have a role in ISIF's implementation of its investment strategy. The Minister can direct ISIF to make specific investments. ISIF's directed portfolio is the State's remaining shareholding in Irish banks following the banking crisis of more than a decade ago. That is one example of an investment in the directed portfolio. It is important that the agency retains independence over its investment decisions. We should acknowledge the decision it made to divest of those six specific investments in respect of the occupied territories. That divestment has now been completed.