Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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128. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide a breakdown of non-resident ownership of Irish Government bonds making a distinction between private and publicly held non-resident ownership, specifying how much is held by other central banks, including the European Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5162/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has informed me of the following information.

While the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) is the registrar for Irish Government bonds, the way they are settled and registered does not allow for the identification of individual holders.

However, the CBI publishes some information on holders of Irish Government bonds, disaggregated between resident and non-resident holders. At end-November 2024 non-resident holders accounted for 51% of bonds outstanding.

Link:

I am not aware of the detail of any holdings of Irish Government bonds by other Central Banks.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of Irish Government bonds held by the Central Bank since 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5163/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has informed me of the following information in relation to Irish Government bonds held by the Bank since 2016.

The Central Bank has gradually built up a portfolio of Irish government bonds for monetary policy purposes under PSPP and PEPP. These programmes were established by decision of the ECB’s Governing Council. PSPP began in 2015 and by end-2016, the Central Bank held €16.3bn of Irish government bonds. Purchases of Irish government bonds under PEPP began in 2020. The Central Bank’s holdings of Irish government bonds under the PEPP and PSPP at end-2024 was €53.5bn. In addition, the Central Bank held around €103mn of Irish government bonds under SMP. The values reported here are book value at amortised cost, a slightly different treatment to those reported for the Eurosystem which are at book value.

The Central Bank also acquired a portfolio of Irish Government bonds following the resolution of IBRC in 2013. That portfolio was fully disposed by 2023.