I thank Deputy Timmins for providing me with the opportunity to speak on this matter. Ireland’s equity markets are diverse, encompassing public and private participants and a wider ecosystem that includes a large number of professional services firms. It is clear that public equity markets in Europe, including Ireland, have faced significant challenges over the past decade for a variety of overlapping reasons, including competition from private equity and from more liquid US capital markets. The increasing importance of large stock market indices linked to the rise in passive investment strategies has also been a pull factor in listings activity gravitating towards the largest stock exchanges. As such, EU solutions will need to be found to address the common challenges faced by EU exchanges. The European Commission has launched the savings and investments union strategy, which includes measures to advance the capital markets union, CMU, project and which has support from ministers, Heads of State and Governments. The strategy identifies key measures to help companies access public equity markets, such as the establishment of EU markets infrastructure, reforms to listings rules and measures designed to increase retail investor participation in capital markets and to promote SME investment research. These measures build on those contained within the CMU action plan of 2020, which included a number of legislative files, including the Listings Act, the European Single Access Point and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, II review, which are currently being transposed. The savings and investments union strategy will build on the progress made by the CMU action plan. Ireland is a strong supporter of this initiative and is actively involved in its development, including measures specifically designed to promote companies seeking to access funding through initial public offerings. At national level, it is the Government’s strongly held view that Ireland’s capital markets are essential to the growth of homegrown businesses, especially those aiming to expand internationally. This was most recently evidenced by the introduction of a corporation tax relief for listing expenses announced as part of budget 2025 and which is now in place with an overall expenses limit of €1 million per listing. When introducing budget 2025, the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers, announced he had decided to examine further potential measures. He stated: To further support Irish businesses to grow and scale, in the coming year my Department will, subject to state aid considerations, introduce a stamp duty exemption. This measure would enable Irish SMEs to access equity via financial trading platforms designed to support their funding needs. This position is reflected in the 2025 Programme for Government: Securing Ireland’s Future, which states that the Government will, “Explore opportunities to enhance the Irish Stock Exchange as a vital source of equity and growth for indigenous businesses”. The Department of Finance is engaged in giving effect to that commitment and has actively engaged with Euronext Dublin, formerly the Irish Stock Exchange, as part of that work. I met with the CEO and some members of his management team recently. It is very much part of the programme of work in the Department of Finance at the moment.

Sentiment score: 0.44

I will outline one EU-level capital markets initiative that officials in the Department of Finance are working on. That is the Listings Act. It is a package of measures agreed late last year and currently being transposed by the Department of Finance and the Department of enterprise. It supports improved access to market-based sources of financing for EU companies, particularly smaller firms such as those listed on SME growth markets. Key elements of the Listings Act include the introduction of simpler prospectus rules and requirements, more proportionate market abuse rules and provisions to allow companies use multiple-vote share structures, thereby allowing company founders to retain control while accessing funding on public markets. The Listings Act also introduces measures to encourage and enhance the production and distribution of investment research on mid-sized companies and SMEs. This is essential if we are to encourage investment in such companies. The simplification and harmonisation of prospectus rules will make it easier and less expensive for growing indigenous businesses to list on the Irish Stock Exchange. I am pleased to inform the House that the Minister has decided to raise the prospectus exemption threshold to €12 million from the current €8 million. This will reduce the regulatory burden for smaller issuers and increase their access to capital in order to invest for long-term growth. The Deputy is right that the value of money on retail deposit offers major potential. The savings and investments union, on which the Government is hugely engaged, will be a channel to do that. We are also in the process of updating the Ireland for Finance strategy, in respect of which there is a commitment in the programme for Government. A public consultation process in that regard will open in the coming weeks, and I encourage submission to it. We hope to publish the strategy early in the new year.

Sentiment score: 0.36