Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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570. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to reports that the European Commission has cited Sweden’s ISK model as best practice for encouraging savers to invest in stock and shares; and if he has given consideration to the way in which Ireland can introduce an accessible ISK-type model in line with EU proposals for a savings and investment union. [46686/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Discussions around encouraging citizens to invest more have been a large part of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU). As part of these discussions, the Swedish ISK (Investeringssparkonto) has been cited by the European Commission as a well-performing savings and investment account within the EU. The central thrust of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) project is to help citizens to invest more so as to increase the amount of money they have in their retirement and to use the invested money to grow businesses bringing more growth to the economy. In this regard we welcome sharing best practices across Member States, and learning from those who already have similar schemes in place.

In March, the European Commission launched the SIU Strategy, which includes measures to advance the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project. Included in this strategy was a commitment to adopt a European blueprint for savings and investment accounts. This blueprint is meant to offer Member States a codification of best practice in terms of savings and investment accounts in the EU.

At the national level, we are reviewing the recommendations from the Funds Review. On 22 October 2024 ‘Funds Sector 2030: A Framework for Open, Resilient & Developing Markets’, also known as the Funds Review, was published. It was a wide-ranging review of the funds and asset management sector. The report made eight recommendations on the topic of retail investment, including recommendations to better align the tax on investment funds and life assurance products with that of direct equities by removing deemed disposal and aligning the rate of tax to 33%. The report also noted that there may be merit in exploring an incentivised savings and investment account in due course and developments at EU level in the context of the EU SIU will have relevance in this regard. However, the report concluded that measures proposed for amending the existing taxation of investment funds and life assurance products should be prioritised as these address the most substantive issues raised as part of the review.

The 2025 Programme for Government has committed to progress and publish an implementation plan, taking into consideration the recommendations to unlock retail investment and opportunities to grow this sector in Ireland. This work will also take account of developments at an EU level in respect of the Savings Investment Union. In particular, we look forward to the Commission's forthcoming recommendation on increasing the availability of savings and investment accounts. We expect this to be adopted in the coming weeks.