Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon.
Taoiseach and Tánaiste, I would like to thank you for your presence today. You have highlighted by your words and by your presence the significant contribution this sector can make to the Government's ambitious job creation targets.
More than 35,000 people are now directly employed in IFS companies across the length of the country from Donegal to Kerry. Not to mention the thousands more jobs that these IFS companies indirectly support. Not bad considering in 1987 the IFSC had less than 60 employees!
However, I believe there is a job of work to be done in promoting the sector and communicating what it can offer in terms of jobs and opportunities for Irish people, including those currently living abroad whose families would love to see returning back home.
My appointment last year as Minister of State for the IFS sector was the first time in twenty years there had been a Minister assigned this specific responsibility.
Through my consultations on this strategy both in Ireland and overseas I have met many dynamic, innovative people working in the sector. I met a very impressive representative from an international IFS company who said to me 'no 12 year old girl comes home from school and says to her parents I want to work in the international financial services sector' and she is right. That is something we need to change and it is one of the specific actions in the Strategy.
I was clear that the process for preparing this Strategy should be open and inclusive and for this reason I conducted extensive consultation, including a public consultation process. I believe the document being launched here today has benefitted very significantly from the range of perspectives and ideas I have heard in recent months.
It was clear from this feedback that while we are doing well, we can do more. In an increasingly competitive environment we need to 'hold on to what we have' and maintain our core strengths as well as avail of new and emerging opportunities.
I believe in this Strategy we have set out a coherent vision and a concrete set of actions to achieve these dual objectives.
Our vision is for Ireland in 2020 to be a global location of choice for specialist international financial services… building on our talent, technology, innovation and excellent client service… and embracing the highest standards of governance.
To support the realisation of this vision we have identified five strategic priorities and 30 concrete actions which we will start to deliver immediately. To give you a brief flavour:
- we will focus on promoting Ireland as a leading location for IFS and innovation. We will market Ireland more effectively overseas, through a single banner brand and high-level trade missions. We will host a major IFS Summit early next year.
- We will enhance our competitiveness and ecosystem with specific actions in relation to education and skills, physical and core market infrastructure and regulation.
- We will continue to drive Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the IFS sector and we will develop job-creation opportunities from emerging IFS sub-sectors and new markets.
In particular, I must mention the very exciting opportunities FinTech presents for Ireland. Ireland is uniquely positioned to become a leading global centre for FinTech – where global multinationals can develop and implement their innovation strategies, side by side with Irish-owned start-ups who will scale and succeed in global markets.
I don’t need to tell this audience that many of the world’s leading and emerging technology and financial services companies are located in Ireland. And Ireland is also establishing a strong global reputation for innovative FinTech start-ups.
This Strategy contains a number of actions to ensure we have an effective ecosystem with the ultimate aim of making Ireland a global leader for FinTech.
And I believe we will make this happen along with the other priorities in this Strategy. To ensure this, we are establishing a new delivery structure involving participation at the highest level across both the public and private sectors.
This Strategy will be driven by a High Level Public sector Implementation Committee which I will chair. This Committee will meet regularly with a new IFS Industry Advisory Committee replacing the existing Clearing House Group.
This new Industry Committee will reflect the current shape of the sector in Ireland. It will include representatives of Irish owned companies alongside our leading multinationals.
Supported by thematic working groups and a team in the Department of the Taoiseach, it will focus relentlessly on delivery and on driving co-ordination and collaboration, both within the public sector and between government and industry.
Crucially it will feed in to the annual setting of priorities for the sector recognising that a 5 year strategy cannot be static. It needs to develop and respond as the sector and its global environment change.
One of Ireland's strengths is that we are responsive and nimble. We know how to adapt and evolve. This will be one of our strengths in delivering this Strategy.
I thank everyone who has contributed to the process, and I look forward to working with you tirelessly on its implementation.