Commissioner McGuinness was visiting Dublin on foot of an invitation from Minister Fleming to meet with executives from the International Financial Services sector and to update them on the current status of the Digital Finance Package and the Sustainable Finance Strategy.
The Joint Committee is made up of senior executives from the private sector and senior officials from Government Departments and the enterprise agencies. It meets on a quarterly basis to oversee the implementation of the Ireland for Finance strategy and to approve the annual action plans that look to develop and grow the number of people working in international financial services.
Employment in the sector is at its highest level with 52,000 people working across Ireland in investments funds, international banking, insurance and fintech. 2022 marks the mid-point in the term of Ireland for Finance strategy and the Department of Finance is carrying out thematic update to ensure the strategy is aligned to the acceleration of trends in fintech and sustainable finance.
Speaking at the meeting Minister Fleming stated:
“Ireland’s membership of the EU and our commitment to the development of a single market for financial services has been at the core of our success in developing the international financial services sector here. It was a pleasure welcome Commissioner McGuinness to Dublin to meet with representatives of the sector and hear first-hand our plans to build on that success as we look to enhance and extend the Ireland for Finance strategy.”
In addition to discussing the update to Ireland for Finance, which is due to be completed by the next meeting in Q2, the Joint Committee approved the progress report for 2021 and considered the impact that the recent sanctions imposed on Russia will have on the industry in Ireland.
About the Ireland for Finance Strategy
Ireland for Finance 2019 is a whole-of-government strategy to develop the international financial services industry to 2025. It is supported by ongoing collaboration between public and private stakeholders and educational institutions to ensure the talent and expertise of all three sectors can continue to be successfully harnessed to build on existing achievements and secure the ambitions set out in Ireland for Finance.
The implementation of the Strategy is overseen by a public sector High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC) with specialist advice and assistance from an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC). This Joint Committee meets quarterly and it is chaired by Minister of State Fleming. The HLIC membership consists of senior officials of the Departments of the Taoiseach; Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science; Foreign Affairs; Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and Finance and the Chief Executive Officers of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. The IAC includes key industry stakeholders such as representative bodies (secretariat), and senior executives from companies across the different international financial services sectors.
