Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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701. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide financial details and a timeline on the purchase and sale of Israeli war bonds by ISIF; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43443/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The NTMA has informed me that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) no longer holds Israeli Sovereign debt.

Below are the holdings in Israeli sovereign debt as at year end for 2021 to 2024 inclusive as per the relevant NTMA Annual Report.

Following this determination, ISIF divested its holdings of sovereign debt issued by Egypt, Israel and Jordan and this divestment was completed by the 10th of July.

ISIF will continue to monitor its holdings to ensure that investments remain aligned with its risk profile and investment parameters.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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702. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide details on any interaction his Department or other Departments have had and any legal advice that they have sought to end the facilitation of the sale of Israeli war bonds by the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43444/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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703. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide a timeline and financial details of the facilitation of the sale of Israeli war bonds by the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43445/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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708. To ask the Minister for Finance whether it is possible for the State or the Central Bank to stop the facilitation of the sale of Israeli war bonds in the upcoming review process by the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43450/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 702, 703 and 708 together.

As the Deputy may or may not be aware, the EU Prospectus Regulation specifies that a prospectus must be drawn up, approved and published when securities are to be offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market in the EU. It is a document that contains key information that potential investors would need to make an informed decision as to whether or not to invest. The decision to approve a prospectus is one based on EU law and if it is assessed that the conditions for approval, set out in the Prospectus Regulation are met by the applicant, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), as the national competent authority, is legally bound to approve it.

In the context of a recent Private Members Bill and a Motion related to these matters the Government thoroughly examined the issue, including the question of applying national restrictive measures in order to prevent the Central Bank of Ireland from carrying out its regulatory function under the EU Prospectus Regulation. In this context, advises by the Attorney General’s Office indicated that national restrictive measures would likely be in conflict with the EU Treaties and Ireland's obligations as an EU Member State.

Government is of the view that Ireland must prioritise coordinated action through the mechanisms of the EU or the UN to ensure that any measures taken are robust and internationally respected. These multilateral efforts are where Ireland can truly exert influence and achieve meaningful change. Ireland has intervened in South Africa’s International Court of Justice case against Israel under the Genocide Convention, The Government recognised Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, and we supported the recent Dutch proposal to review the EU’s trade and political relationship with Israel (the EU-Israel Association Agreement). These are concrete measures the Government have undertaken with the express purpose of building an international coalition to stop the horrors in Gaza perpetrated by Israel.

With regard to interactions the Department of Finance has had in relation to issues that have arisen on this topic, such as Parliamentary Questions, Dail debates, Private Members Bills or Motions etc, my officials to date have had regular engagements with officials from the Central Bank of Ireland and liaised with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as that department is the lead Department of Government on overseas matters, and any proposed restrictive measures against another State.

As I mentioned during the Second Stage debate on the recent Private Members Bill, (Restrictive Financial Measures (State of Israel) Bill 2025) and alluded to above, my officials have engaged with the Attorney General’s Office. In addition, the Attorney General wrote to me providing preliminary advice in relation to the proposed Private Members Bill. My officials would also have liaised with officials from the Central Bank of Ireland in preparing for the debate in the House on the recent Private Members Bill and Motion, brought by opposition parties, on the prospectus approval processes. On 11 July Minister Troy met with the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid.

In regards to the Deputy’s question concerning a timeline and financial details of the approval of the Israeli bond programme, the first Israeli bond prospectus was approved by the Central Bank in January 2021. The Central Bank approved updates in September 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Central Bank has also approved supplements to the prospectus in February and June 2024.

The Central Bank provided the following information in correspondence with the Joint Committee on the 1 July 2025. The figures provided are aggregated estimates based on final amount filings to the Central Bank by the issuer and converted by the Central Bank into Euro on the basis of currency conversion rates in May and June 2025. The Central Bank currently has filings up to 15 April, filings are made on an ongoing basis as soon as practicable following the closing of further offer periods.

The estimated value raised from the most recent Final Terms (dated 1 September 2024 to 15 April 2025) is €129,246,090. The value raised from the preceding Final Terms (dated 1 October 2023 to 15 August 2024) is estimated to be €288,495,197. Thus, the total value for the period 1 October 2023 to 15 April 2025 is estimated to be €417,741,287. Please note – the Central Bank has not separately verified or audited this information.