Written answers

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Department of Finance

Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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166. To ask the Minister for Finance to set out in tabular form the investments that have been identified by county under the connectivity fund that is operated by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund; the total amount of funding allocated to each respective investment and application by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31466/16]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Connectivity Fund was formed to invest the €335 million proceeds from the sale of the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus with the aim of enabling and enhancing Ireland's physical, virtual and energy connectivity.

Due to commercial sensitivities, the ISIF does not comment on transactions that may or may not be under consideration or in progress. Completed transactions are either announced or reported as part of the Fund's regular transparent fund reporting. The economic impact of all ISIF investments, which includes the Connectivity Fund, is outlined in the Fund's semi-annual, fund level, economic impact reports, which include regional deployment data. As at December 2015, the ISIF economic impact report demonstrated regionally balanced investments with 60% of jobs supported and 46% of capital invested occurring outside of Dublin. The report as at 30 June 2016 is expected to be published in early December 2016.

In respect of the Connectivity Fund specifically, ISIF has informed me that it recently announced the completion of its first two investments from this fund.  The combined value of these investments is €57m and includes:

- An initial €22 million equity investment in Aqua Comms DAC, the operator of Ireland's first dedicated sub-sea fibre-optic network. The cable lands in Killala County Mayo and interconnects New York, Dublin and London. The Aqua Comms network will be used by major multinational technology and telecoms companies to provide fast, secure data connections between Ireland, the US and UK and will enable the continued growth of the Irish digital economy.

- The rolling of an existing (NPRF) commitment in daa plc's public bond, which was issued in 2008 (repayable in 2018), into a €35 million commitment in a new 2028 public bond issuance by daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork Airports. This continues ISIF's role as a long-term, strategic, domestic investor in daa.

Several other Connectivity Fund investment opportunities are currently being assessed under the ISIF's "double bottom line" mandate, which is to seek both commercial return and economic impact. These connectivity opportunities include potential investments in energy, air, sea and further data connectivity projects and businesses seeking to expand and enhance Ireland's international links.

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