Minister’s Brief
20160229%20Minister%20for%20Finance%20Brief%20redacted%20web
20160229%20Minister%20for%20Finance%20Brief%20redacted%20web
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
assistance to the developing world. IDA is funded largely by contributions from the<br />
governments of its richer member countries including Ireland.<br />
The Minister for Finance is Ireland’s representative on the Board of Governors at the World<br />
Bank Group and this mirrors the position of Ministers from other countries represented at the<br />
World Bank.<br />
Ireland is represented at the World Bank by two officials (nominated by the Minister for<br />
Finance and shared between this Department and the Central Bank: Mary O’Dea (Senior<br />
Advisor) and Mr Alex Lalor (Advisor)) in the Constituency Office which we share with Canada<br />
and eleven Caribbean States.<br />
Ireland holds 6,404 shares in the World Bank Group’s primary institution, the International<br />
Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This represents a share of 0.33% of the IBRD’s<br />
total shareholding. Ireland’s total monetary subscription to the IBRD is €700 million ($772.5<br />
million), of which €41 million ($45.3 million) has been paid-in.<br />
The Doing Business Report is a flagship publication of the World Bank which is published on<br />
an annual basis and which assesses regulations and the ease of doing business in 189<br />
economies. In Doing Business 2016 (published in October 2015), Ireland performed strongly<br />
and was ranked 4th in the Euro Area and 7th in the EU overall. The Department of Finance<br />
engages closely with the Doing Business Report Team, as well as with the relevant<br />
stakeholders in Ireland, in order to highlight reforms to the business environment in Ireland<br />
and will continue to do so in preparation for Doing Business 2017.<br />
A Development Finance Forum will take place in Dublin from 18-19 May, 2016. This event will<br />
be held by the World Bank and will focus on mechanisms which could leverage private sector<br />
involvement to complement public sector finance to assist developing countries. This<br />
underpins recent developments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the<br />
Financing For Development UN Agenda and the Climate Change commitments from the Paris<br />
COP 21 conference in December of 2015.Additionally, the IFC, the private investment<br />
institution at the World Bank Group, will hold an investment event in Dublin in September<br />
2016, with the aim of increasing investment opportunities for Irish businesses in developing<br />
countries.<br />
As mentioned above, IDA is the World Bank institution which provides concessional financial<br />
assistance to the poorest developing countries. Ireland is currently contributing €90 million to<br />
IDA-17, the current replenishment process. IDA is replenished on a three-yearly cycle and<br />
negotiations are currently ongoing on the next cycle, IDA-18, which will become effective in<br />
January, 2017. Ireland is involved in these negotiations and a proposal on Ireland’s<br />
contribution to IDA will be made once negotiations have progressed to the pledging stage.<br />
The World Bank is currently undertaking a review of its role in the international financial<br />
architecture and development agenda, and will produce a ‘Forward Look’ report. This report<br />
Page 159 of 184