Emer Currie
Question:81. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance for an update on plans for legislation to support the establishment of tokenised funds in Ireland. [10869/26]
View answerWednesday, 11 February 2026
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Tokenisation is the process whereby an underlying asset or pool of assets, tangible or intangible, is converted into digital “tokens” that acts as its proxy. This process could fundamentally reform how capital markets operate, enabling real-time trades; increasing transparency and liquidity; expediting clearing and ultimately providing for atomic settlement.
Tokenisation can be applied to a wide range of assets, from cash, financial instruments such as shares and bonds, to real assets such as real estate, commodities, artefacts, and works of art. What this means for an investor is that their holding is represented not by units but by direct holdings of the underlying assets in the form of tokens. These tokens can be digitally held and traded via Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
As part of the Funds Review, led by my department, there was close engagement with the Irish Funds Digital Asset Project Group who were exploring the operational application of tokenisation to Irish domiciled investment funds.
As a result of this review, Ireland’s ‘Funds Sector 2030’ Report was published in October 2024, which specifically addressed the potential that DLT and tokenisation holds for the investment funds sector. The Review recommended that industry continue to engage constructively with the Central Bank of Ireland and the Department of Finance with a view to mapping out a pathway for adoption of tokenisation.
Domestically, significant resources have been invested in exploring what can be achieved within the current legislative and regulatory frameworks. This work is ongoing. We do expect increased focus on DLT at the EU level in the coming months and years. The Market Integration Package, published by the Commission in December 2025, included considerable reforms to the DLT Pilot Regime in a bid to encourage greater uptake and accelerate the technological transformation of capital markets. In the upcoming months, Ireland will engage in the negotiations on the legislative proposal.