Speech by Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris T.D. at the Financial Systems Conference - Central Bank of Ireland

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Good afternoon everyone,

It is a great honour and pleasure to join you all today at Financial Systems Conference 2025. This is one of my first key engagements as Finance Minister, and I would like to thank – Governor Makhlouf for the invitation and very warm welcome.

I would also like to acknowledge and extend a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests joining us today and in particular Olaf Sleijpen (President, De Nederlandsche Bank).

This year has been marked by a significant shift in the global economic landscape, most notably with the deeply regrettable introduction of widespread tariffs.

As a country that has benefitted substantially from decades of free and open trade, tariffs represent a clear challenge to the Irish economy, potentially impacting future waves of investment and job creation, all while weighing on global growth.

In response, the government, initiated a series of significant engagements, with EU and US counterparts to ensure that the Irish position was fully understood, and with key stakeholders through the Government Trade Forum, meaning that this engagement was informed by those sectors most likely to be affected.

While the EU-US trade agreement negotiated during the summer will provide a much-needed level of certainty for Irish exporters, it is important that we seek to improve that. Ireland has always been, and will continue to be a constructive, and very good home for US businesses.

While we want to continue to do business with the US and indeed want to grow business. We must also look for other opportunities to diversify markets for Irish business.

It is important that we take every opportunity to identify new markets. The recently published Market Diversification Action Plan will be a key driver in achieving this aim.

Despite the wave of successive shocks we have witnessed in recent years, the economy is in a relatively strong position at present.

Indeed, the number of people in employment in Ireland is at record levels and inflation has now returned to more normal levels, acting to support real incomes.

The significant investment set out in the National Development Plan will help to ensure that Ireland remains a competitive place in which to invest. Indeed, this was also a central theme in last month’s Budget.

The Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce will play a critical role in moving forward the delivery of key infrastructure projects by identifying barriers which are impeding progress and advising how these can be overcome, thereby unlocking infrastructure delivery right across the country.

We will also need to ensure ongoing careful management of the public finances, including through continued transfers to the two long-term savings funds, putting us in the best possible position to respond to future challenges and shocks.

Recently, my Department recently published “Future Forty” – a document that tries to identify the main factors that will influence our living standards not in the next few years but in the decades ahead.

This type of strategic thinking is fundamental – especially in light of the fundamental shifts that are currently underway in Ireland and in the wider global economy.

The key takeaway from the analysis is that we have a window of opportunity – about a decade – in which to prepare the ground for significant demographic and other changes.

Government is determined to use this window – strengthening our economic and social foundations in order to support future gains in living standards.

Importantly the European economy has also remained resilient in recent years, despite growth and investment prospects being impacted by heightened economic, geopolitical and trade-related uncertainty.

These challenges emphasise the importance of strengthening our economic resilience through programmes of reform, strategic infrastructure investment, and measures to boost European competitiveness and productivity.

Strengthening international cooperation in critical areas through the promotion of open and predictable multilateral rules-based systems will further maximise economic benefits while minimising uncertainty and risks.

It is imperative that we continue to ensure the sustainability of the public finances – putting debt on a downward trajectory, reducing deficits, and rebuilding fiscal buffers.

As you all know, Ireland’s financial services sector is a significant contributor to Ireland’s economy and plays a key role in improving the quality of life of our citizens.

The sector contributes positively to economic growth, providing growing levels of tax revenue through the creation of both direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Ireland hosts 22 of the world’s top 25 financial services companies, 21 of the top 25 global banks, and 8 of the top 10 global insurers.

We are the fourth largest financial services exporter in the EU and eighth globally and have become the third largest location for investment funds behind the US and Luxembourg.

While our financial sector is largely export-focused the sector’s vital role in supporting the domestic economy should not be understated.

Thanks to you all, it is a sector providing essential and increasingly innovative services needed by consumers and businesses to achieve their financial, and personal goals, including

Ø Increasingly convenient, efficient and safe means of transacting, which is vital for the functioning of our society and economy.

Ø Allowing for the flow of credit through our economy, providing consumers and businesses with access to the capital they need to grow and prosper.

Ø Providing for our savings and investment needs, generating returns while ensuring that capital flows towards activities that grow our economy.

Ø Allowing crucial economic activity to happen by allowing for the management of risk.

At EU level, following the Draghi and Letta Reports and a shift towards increased protectionism geopolitically, we are seeing a laser-like focus on enhancing European competitiveness and innovation.

In particular, the Savings and Investments Union project seeks to drive competitiveness by deepening the EU’s capital markets, supporting growth, and enhancing the resilience of the financial system.

Given the composition of the financial services sector in Ireland and its role as a gateway to Europe for global and European firms, we can play and important part in enhancing both Irish and EU competitiveness, supporting growth and investment, particularly in funding SMEs and critical infrastructure projects.

It is for this reason that, fostering the continued growth and success of our financial services sector is a priority for this Government.

Key to this will be the development of the new Ireland for Finance strategy.

Some of you may remember that while serving as Minister of State in the Department of Finance back in 2015, I had the privilege of launching the original IFS 2020 strategy.

Now as Minister for Finance, I look forward to helping to shape the new strategy for the sector for the rest of the decade.

A public consultation process closed in September and almost 60 responses have been received from a diverse cross-section of the financial services ecosystem.

These submissions are currently being reviewed with a view to publishing a new strategy in the first half of 2026.

The reduction of the regulatory burden for businesses in the EU is a crucial step towards enhancing the Union’s competitiveness, and one which Ireland firmly supports.

However, it is essential that as we focus on this objective, that we don’t lose sight of the fact that financial regulatory simplification should not be an end in and of itself.

Financial regulation is of course vital, but it is also appropriate to periodically review the existing regulatory and supervisory frameworks to see if the same outcomes can be delivered in simpler and more efficient ways.

It is crucial that we get this right and that simplification does not slide into de-regulation and lower standards.

I am also conscious in saying this, that simplification should be undertaken in a way that limits the disruption on industry, so you can continue to thrive.

I am also conscious that in speaking with you today, that we do not lose sight of the people who use and benefit from your services daily.

As every industry becomes propelled by fast-moving innovations in technology, we must bear in mind that it will be worth less if the consumer is left behind.

It goes without saying that the financial decisions consumers make, at different points in their lives, can have a profound impact on their financial well-being, and their overall quality of life.

It is important to the overall economy that consumers are enabled to be financially literate and well- informed.

Enabling people to better understand financial products and services, ensures they are better placed to make good financial decisions, able look after their interests and better safeguard their financial well-being.

In February 2025, we published the first Irish National Financial Literacy Strategy, a five-year, stakeholder-led strategy that aims improve levels of financial literacy in Ireland.

By bringing the stakeholders together, increasing cooperation and coordination, we will support greater financial wellbeing and resilience for everyone.

One of the aims of the Strategy is also to increase awareness of consumer rights and protections and this includes awareness of the revised Consumer Protection Code.

Ireland ranks highly in financial literacy but there is still more work for us to do as around 40% of adults in Ireland do not meet the minimum level of financial literacy the OECD sets out.

The Strategy’s 2025 Action Plan is currently being reviewed, and I hope to publish it alongside an 18-month Action Plan for 2026/2027, early next year.

Alongside the Strategy, we also launched a set of guidelines called Financial Education in Schools – Guidelines for the Financial Services Industry. These Guidelines were developed in partnership with the Department of Education and in consultation with stakeholders including the NCCA – Ireland’s curriculum authority – as well as with Industry.

The goal of the guidelines is to encourage coordination and best practice by providing a reference point for school leaders, teachers and industry on the expectations for financial education initiatives being delivered in schools.

It also aims to deal with any potential conflicts of interest by ensuring materials are objective, balanced and impartial.

Our work here, very much aligns with that of the European Commission which in September published an EU financial literacy strategy.

This Strategy will empower citizens, raise awareness and increase their participation in capital markets, creating a more “investment savvy” culture.

As everyone here is aware, we are entering into a busy period where many important Savings and Investment Union (SIU) legislative proposals will come quickly.

To maintain momentum, we are working in close coordination with other Member States, the European Parliament and other stakeholders particularly to advance legislative files where progress can be made.

As I mentioned earlier, the aims of the SIU are to deepen and further integrate Europe’s capital markets, support growth, and enhance the resilience of the financial system.

In large part, the SIU aims for greater balance between the roles of the banking and non-banking sectors within the EU to energize the economy, increase the resilience of the financial system, and support the green and digital transitions.

This requires many interlocking policies at the EU level, which will need to be complemented by concerted efforts at the national level.

It is clear that, even before recent geopolitical developments, support for the EU’s Capital Markets Union project was mounting.

Everyone in this room will be familiar with the array of statements and reports that issued last year, including Draghi and Letta reports as well as the Eurogroup statement in March.

Many of the issues and recommendations in these reports have been incorporated into the Savings and Investments Union Strategy which was published by the European Commission in March of this year.

The SIU initiative, which combines the Capital Markets Union and Banking Union, will be a key priority for the EU in the coming years.

The Strategy itself sets out a useful roadmap, encompassing a range of legislative and non-legislative proposals which will be published over a relatively short timeframe – between now and the end of 2026.

Ireland is a strong supporter of the SIU initiative, and we are actively involved in progressing and driving forward legislative and non-legislative measures under this initiative.

At its core, this is about making our financial system more competitive, more accessible and better able to serve the citizens and businesses of Europe.

When it comes to Ireland’s priorities, we support a “multi-centre of excellence” model for the SIU - an approach grounded in the idea that Europe should leverage the strengths of existing marketplaces by enabling all national and regional marketplaces to flourish.

This model helps avoid over-concentration and over-dependence on any single financial hub – instead it champions diversity, balance, and the harnessing of local infrastructure and expertise.

The busy time we are entering with the SIU legislative proposals will also coincide with our Presidency of the Council next year and Ireland will have an eye on trying to advance the SIU as best as we can, from both a top-down and bottom-up perspective.

I want to thank you for being here this afternoon, for your ongoing contribution to our economy and society.

Your involvement and participation here shows you are ambitious, committed and excited about the future of this sector and for the future economic health of our country in the years ahead.

Enjoy the rest of the conference.

ENDS