Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Finance the Government's position on the creation of a European Capital Markets Union; his views on the progress on the issue at EU level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28779/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a flagship project within EU financial services policy which aims to deepen and further integrate Europe’s capital markets, support growth and enhance the resilience of the financial system. The CMU, alongside the Banking Union, forms part of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU).

Ireland is a strong supporter of the CMU/SIU project. For Ireland, SIU has the potential to widen the sources of available funding for our companies as well as provide opportunities for our export-oriented financial services sector to contribute to a more dynamic and resilient EU economy. SIU would facilitate deeper integration of Ireland’s capital market with other EU markets, augmenting competitiveness, attracting increased investment and fostering growth in innovation and sustainability. At EU level, a further deepening of the EU’s capital markets will be instrumental in unlocking the significant levels of funding that will allow us to manage the green and digital transitions.

The CMU/SIU has been much discussed in the last year or so, with a number of key reports on pathways to advancing the project such as the Enrico Letta Report, Christian Noyer Report and Mario Draghi Report on how to build more effective and attractive capital markets. Many of the issues and recommendations in these reports have been incorporated into the Savings and Investments Union Strategy which was published by the European Commission on 19 March 2025.

Ireland supports the SIU Strategy which provides us with a roadmap for the coming years in terms of legislative files and related commitments. We are actively involved in progressing and driving forward legislative and non-legislative measures under this initiative. Many of priority areas are well-targeted and rightly focused on how capital markets can best support the real economy and innovative firms that drive growth, resilience and opportunity.

We believe that we should be focussed on advancing files that will have the greatest impact as quickly as possible. These include a review of the EU’s securitisation framework; measures to improve retail investor participation; and increasing the availability of growth capital for EU companies. We believe that these proposals have the broad support of Member States, as well as Members of the European Parliament.

Further progress on completing the CMU/SIU will require a combination of complementary top-down EU measures and bottom-up national measures. It is the collective responsibility of the EU institutions, the Members States, including its regulatory authorities, and of course capital markets participants, to ensure that further progress is made on the CMU/SIU. Ireland will continue to play a constructive and active role in this important endeavour.