Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
190. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the steps his Department is taking to stimulate growth in investment such as in cryptocurrency to make it more accessible and advantageous for Irish people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73273/25]
View answerI am committed to taking the necessary action to support retail investment in Ireland. The reduction from 41% to 38% in the taxation rate that applies to Irish and equivalent offshore funds and Irish and certain foreign life assurance products, that was announced in Budget 2026, is an important first step in this regard.
I am conscious of the need to ensure that retail investment is encouraged. Work is continuing on the development of the roadmap for the taxation of retail investment, as announced in Budget 2026. The roadmap is to be published early next year and will set out an approach to simplify and adapt the tax framework to further support retail investment while retaining necessary and important anti-avoidance protections in a proportionate manner.
This roadmap will facilitate due consideration of the Funds Sector 2030 Report and consider the European Commission’s recommendation on Savings and Investment Accounts. I hope further progress can be made to address some of the existing obstacles to greater retail investment in the coming years within the usual Budget and Finance Bill processes.
In March, the European Commission launched the SIU Strategy, which includes measures to advance the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project. The central thrust of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) project is to help European citizens to invest more so as to ensure that they have better financial outcomes and are better provided for in the future. Furthermore, the EU SIU project is also about trying to deepen the pools of capital that can be made available for investment purposes so as develop businesses bringing more growth to the European economy.
With specific regard to Cryptocurrency, in Ireland it is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR). Under MiCAR, crypto asset service providers issuing cryptocurrency, operating trading platforms, or offering custody services must be authorised to do so and are required to publish investor information and hold prescribed levels of reserves.
I must stress that cryptocurrencies can be highly risky and speculative and should only be invested in when the investor is fully conscious of the risks involved.
