NEWS

The Minister states: The formulation and implementation of monetary policy is an independent matter for the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB increased official interest rates over the course of 2022 and 2023 as it moved to combat excess inflation. However, since last summer it has now reduced official interest rates on seven occasions, most recently with effect from 23 April 2025. These recent monetary policy changes, taken together with a change to its operational framew

The Minister states: Financial literacy and education are an important part of financial consumer protection. Financial literacy works alongside many other consumer protections in place to help consumers make the most of their money, make informed decisions and improve their financial resilience and wellbeing. I published Ireland's first National Financial Literacy Strategy in February this year. This was a recommendation of the Retail Banking Review in 2022, and a Programme

The Minister states: I recognise the concerns felt by businesses across the country about the cost and availability of public insurance cover. The most recent Central Bank National Claims Information Database (NCID) report on employers' and public liability and commercial insurance shows that in 2023, 56 per cent of policies had a premium of less than €1,000, and 90 per cent had a premium under €5,000. Neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank of Ireland can inter

The Minister states: The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 is the result of a recommendation in the Department of Finance's 2022 Review of Retail Banking. The objectives of the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 are: to ensure sufficient and effective access to cash in the State; to put in place a framework to manage future changes to the cash infrastructure in a fair, orderly, equitable, and transparent manner; and to

The Minister states: the Central Bank does not sell or oversee the sale of Israeli bonds. It is important to be clear as to the role of the Central Bank because it has been misrepresented repeatedly. To be clear again, the Central Bank's role under EU legislation is to assess the bond prospectus to ensure that it includes all the disclosure requirements of the EU prospectus regulation. Neither the issuer - in this case the State of Israel - nor the financial products become r

QUESTION To ask the Minister for Finance if the full amount of Exchequer funding allocated to bail out the banks arising from the...

Deputy John McGuinness- speech from 19 Oct 2022 Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022