Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of projects funded by the Irish Infrastructure Fund since its inception, including the nature of such projects and the number of jobs created; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45947/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) was established by Irish Life Investment Managers, with AMP Capital appointed as the fund's discretionary investment manager. The objective of the IIF is to provide long term investors with a stable income yield as well as the potential for capital growth deriving from a substantial portfolio of assets which underpin the Irish economy. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has a commitment of €250 million to the IIF. 

The IIF has thus far completed three investments. The first investment was the acquisition of a controlling stake in a portfolio of wind farms from Viridian Group in 2012. The IIF completed a second investment in 2013 when it acquired Towercom, Ireland's largest independent wireless telecoms infrastructure company. The IIF's most recent investment was completed in July 2015, when it acquired the concession contract to operate and maintain The Convention Centre Dublin, with the investment also including a license to build and operate an approximately 330-bed hotel on a site adjacent to The Convention Centre. 

The IIF has in the course of 2015 secured investor commitments to over €400 million, including the ISIF commitment, with 14 institutional investors participating in the funding round to complete the most recent CCD investment. The IIF has an on-going pipeline of investment opportunities that it is actively evaluating and it is currently hoped that an additional investment will be undertaken in the coming months. The IIF is also continuing to meet with both domestic and international investors with a view to raising additional capital.

Information on the economic impact of ISIF's investments, including employment, is published on a bi-annual basis. Due to commercial sensitivities the ISIF does not report on economic impact at individual transaction level, but instead at the aggregate portfolio level. Updated economic impact figures show that as at end-December 2014, ISIF, through its investment activities, was supporting 12,005  jobs in the Irish economy.  Interim economic impact figures for the first half of 2015 will be published in the coming days.