Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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99. To ask the Minister for Finance the engagement he has had with the Central Bank in relation to the suspension of the Euroclear system last week; the reason this has happened so many times in 2020 compared to previous years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34414/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy refers to the suspension of the Euroclear system last week. However, I believe the incident he is referring to was related to the TARGET2 system. I will answer the question on that basis.

TARGET2 is the real-time gross settlement system owned and operated by the Eurosystem. Under the Regulation on oversight requirements for systemically important payments systems (SIPS Regulation) the European Central Bank (ECB) is responsible for the oversight of the TARGET2 system.

Central banks (including the Central Bank of Ireland) and commercial banks can submit payment orders in euro to TARGET2, where they are processed and settled in central bank money, i.e. money held in an account with a central bank.

As a member of the Eurosystem, the Central Bank of Ireland operates TARGET2.IE for Irish participants.

On Friday 23 October, an incident adversely affected connectivity to the European TARGET2 system and its participants at 13.40 (Irish Time). Connectivity was restored by the operator at 21.30. Backlogs started clearing after that and late into the night / early morning of 24 October. Regular updates were provided by the ECB via their website. The Central Bank of Ireland maintained contact with Irish participants, as well as officials in my Department, updating them throughout the incident.

This incident is the third significant incident with TARGET2 in 2020 – all of which were publicised by the ECB via their website. The other incidents were in August and March and were unrelated to each other. According to initial investigations by the operator into this October incident, it is also an isolated incident, unrelated to the others and the cause in this case was identified as a hardware issue.