Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 141: To ask the Minister for Finance if the interdepartmental committee appointed to examine the investment policies of the National Pensions Reserve Fund will ensure that the internationally agreed framework of protect, respect and remedy, proposed by the UN Secretary General Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, will be a key underlining framework from which guidance for the NPRF responsible investment policy will be drawn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37842/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I announced, during the debate on the Investment of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009 last March, that the preparation of the draft legislation provided an opportunity to consider once again the position regarding ethical investment and that I would establish an Interdepartmental Committee to examine the issues further and to report to me.

The Committee has been established and includes representatives of the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Foreign Affairs, as well as officials from my Department and representatives of the National Treasury Management Agency as Manager of the NPRF.

Since its establishment, the Committee has met on five occasions. It has considered the appropriateness and possible nature of an ethical investment policy for the NPRF, taking account of such developments as the UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment, which seek to integrate environmental, social and governance issues, in addition to financial issues, into investment analysis and decision-making. The approaches to ethical/responsible investment taken in other countries have also been reviewed.

Submissions from a number of civil society organisations have also been considered. Some of these submissions draw attention to the work of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on business and human rights. The Committee is preparing a report which is expected to be finalised shortly.