Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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43. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of gold reserves held in Ireland on a quarterly basis since the year commencing 2000 to Quarter 2 2022, in tabular form. [36590/22]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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44. To ask the Minister for Finance the tonnage and value of precious metals and or receivables held in reserve that are not gold as of month end of June 2022. [36591/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 44 together.

The Central Bank of Ireland holds a portfolio of investment assets dominated by investments in traditional assets such as fixed income securities, together with smaller holdings in other suitable asset classes, including gold. The Bank’s investment assets contribute to maintaining its financial independence in respect of operating costs, alongside other income streams such as the regulatory levy and income derived from monetary policy implementation.

Over the past several years, the Central Bank has made a number of changes to its investment assets in order to increase diversification across asset classes. These changes have been achieved through the reinvestment of maturing funds in a broader range of international bond markets, a small allocation to equities plus a further allocation to gold. The Central Bank does not hold any precious metals and/or receivables other than gold.

The goal of diversifying asset holdings is to support the long-term resilience of the Bank’s balance sheet and to underpin future earnings. All developments within the Bank’s investment assets are reported in its published accounts each year.

Gold does not constitute a major investment for the Central Bank of Ireland and despite the recent asset reallocation, the Bank’s holdings of gold in relation to balance sheet size remain below those of many other Eurosystem central banks.

The Central Bank's holdings of gold from Q1 2000 to the end of Q2 2022 are shown in the table: