First meeting for new IFSC Clearing House Group

The first meeting of the body charged with implementing a new strategy for Dublin’s international financial services sector – with a target to create 10,000 new jobs – is to take place on Wednesday.

Consisting of 12 industry participants, the newly-established Industry Advisory Committee will meet with senior public sector officials to review progress to date in implementing the government’s new IFS2020 strategy.

The strategy, which was published in March, aims to create 10,000 new jobs and position Dublin as a hub in emerging sectors such as fintech.

Speaking at a Financial Services Ireland event last week, Minister for State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris said that he was “very encouraged at this early stage with the progress that is being reported”.

Success

Mr Harris will chair the meeting, with representation from the public sector also including heads of key Government departments and agencies.

The abolition of the old Clearing House Group, which represented both private and public sector interests, was first signalled in the IFS2020 report.

That group was seen by many as a key success factor for the IFSC, and at its first meeting, in April 1987, featured members including Dermot Desmond, then managing director of NCB; Séamus Paircéir, then chairman of the Revenue Commissioners; and Mark Hely Hutchinson, then chief executive of Bank of Ireland.

However, the appropriateness of the group, given the apparent ability of private interests to influence government policies, had been brought into question in recent years.

Agenda

The new committee will meet on a quarterly basis, and its 12 members have been appointed for a two-year term on a voluntary basis, and won’t be paid for their work, although expenses may be payable.

The first progress report on IFS2020 will be published in July, while the public sector committee has also been charged with the preparation of a new set of actions for 2016.

Also on the agenda is creating a co-ordinated group to promote the interests of the fintech sector.