Ryan says 'green IFSC' could create 20,000 jobs

THE MINISTER for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has said the Government’s plan to create “a green IFSC” could create 20,000 jobs over the next five to 10 years.

The Government planned to create a project team to develop the initiative early in the new year, Eamon Ryan said, and the project could be rolled out over the middle to end of next year.

Mr Ryan said that the IFSC (the International Financial Services Centre) could be extended to specialise in green investments and fund administration, carbon-trading and “green bond” markets to finance environmental projects.

“It could specialise in clean energy project finance or carbon trading,” Mr Ryan added. “It could also look at ethical fund management and administration. We would specialise in three or four key areas.”

The idea of a green IFSC was floated in the Government-backed report by the High Level Action Group on Green Enterprise, which was published earlier this month.

That report stated that there was the potential to create more than 80,000 sustainable jobs in the “green economy” by 2020, including an expansion of the IFSC into green investments.

Mr Ryan said the development of a green IFSC could also help to address “the reputational damage” suffered by the State during the economic and banking crisis, and push the financial services sector back into the top 10 of global financial centres.

“The IFSC has held up in the last year, it has not lost too many jobs and it has brought many businesses in,” he added. “The future is in more stable, long-term investment vehicles of 15- to 20-year products that give not spectacular but steady returns.”

The project team would be led by the IDA, the State body responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Ryan said. The team would also involve representatives of the IFSC and financial services firms in Dublin.

Meetings have taken place in recent weeks to plan the setting up of the team next year. The Government has drawn on the advice of David Guest, head of the Irish operations of ABN Amro in the IFSC, and Paul Harris, head of natural resources risk management at Bank of Ireland Global Markets.

Mr Ryan said tax benefits and infrastructure in place at the IFSC made the prospect of extending the financial services sector into a green investment hub attractive to foreign companies.

“The green IFSC is one of the most high potential ready-to-go projects,” he said, adding that the country could easily brand the project as green economy – green Ireland. “That simple connection on branding does work,” he said.

Dublin was competing with 25 other cities around the world that were seeking to develop similar initiatives, he added.