Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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179. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the recent publicity regarding an organisation's (details supplied) work regarding the establishment of a public banking network here; if the organisation invited officials from his Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development to participate in a field trip to Germany to examine the public banking network there; the technical assistance the organisation offered the Government in respect of the establishment of a public banking network here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38055/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government commits the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DAHRRGA) and the Department of Finance to investigate the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions. Responsibility for this commitment has now moved from the DAHRRGA to the Department of Rural and Community Development.   

A project team with officials from both departments was assembled in early 2017 to investigate the Sparkassen model and other models of local public banking and bring forward a report to both the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring T.D., and myself. I understand that this report is near completion and will be published in due course. It will set out the Irish banking context as well as analysing the responses to the consultation on public banking and its applicability in Ireland. It will then set out the findings and conclusions of the investigation of the Sparkassen model and other models of local public banking.

There has been a consultation process as part of this investigation of local public banking. This consultation involved engagement with stakeholders and interested parties, including the Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC), the international development wing of the Sparkassen movement. Officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Finance met with representatives from SBFIC, who gave a detailed presentation, including a written proposal, on the Sparkassen model.

The purpose of the consultation process and subsequent report that is being prepared is to assist in the analysis of the applicability and viability of the Sparkassen model of local public banking in an Irish context.