On 19 September, Insurance Ireland welcomed the opportunity to make a submission on behalf of Ireland’s insurance sector to the Ireland for Finance Strategy 2026-2030 Consultation.

In the response, Insurance Ireland outlined to Minister Troy the insurance sector is an essential part of the Irish financial services sector, protecting the people of Ireland and powering the economy. Ireland’s reputation as a global insurance centre is bolstered by its regulatory environment, skilled workforce, and EU market access. Insurance Ireland is the representative body for insurance providers in Ireland, supporting a vital industry that protects individuals and drives the economy.

While Dublin remains the hub, insurance firms are increasingly expanding operations to regional centres such as Cork, Galway, and Limerick. This decentralisation supports balanced regional growth, reduces pressure on urban infrastructure, and creates local employment opportunities.

With this context in mind, Insurance Ireland provided detailed feedback in relation to the questions posed in the consultation, which can be summarised into the following key priorities:

1. Strategic Objectives & Scope

• Reintroduce and expand focus on taxation within the strategy.
• Ensure regulatory frameworks are clear, proportionate, and agile to support innovation.
• Revitalise Ireland’s brand as a centre for financial services through pillars of talent, taxation, and regulation.

2. Regulatory & Legislative Reform

• Simplify and modernise the legislative and regulatory framework:
  • Avoid gold-plating of EU directives.
  • Swift transposition aligned with other Member States.
  • Introduce a secondary competition objective for the Central Bank.
  • Enhance regulatory predictability, transparency, and accountability.
  • Streamline reporting requirements and digitise processes.
• Support supervisory convergence and cooperation across the EU.
• Introduce an Annual Finance Miscellaneous Provisions Act for targeted legislative updates.

3. Taxation

• Introduce a full participation exemption, including for branches.
• Simplify tax computations and reduce compliance burdens.
• Use tax policy to attract global talent and support teleworking.

4. Talent & Regionalisation

• Expand education and training pathways (e.g., apprenticeships, Skillnet, MSc programmes).
• Implement Insurance Ireland’s Talent Roadmap.
• Improve broadband infrastructure to support remote work.
• Promote and expand IDA Ireland Regional Hubs.

5. Innovation & Technology

• Establish a full regulatory sandbox with consumer testing capabilities.
• Support InsurTech, FinTech, RegTech through grants and access to capital.
• Encourage cross-border innovation and regulatory cooperation.
• Focus on AI, DLT, tokenisation, and digitalisation of insurance products.

6. Sustainable Finance

• Create a data hub for sustainability-related investment and risk data.
• Establish a platform for sustainable transformation projects.
• Introduce a simple, low-cost savings product (e.g., Irish equivalent of UK ISA) to unlock retail investment.

7. International Cooperation

• Include (re)insurance in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
• Develop Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with other jurisdictions.
• Strengthen Ireland’s role as the EU’s gateway for international (re)insurance.

8. Governance & Engagement

• Include CEOs of trade associations and Revenue Commissioners in governance structures.
• Improve meeting structure, follow-up, and coordination.
• Allocate more resources to the Department of Finance secretariat.
• Focus on tangible outcomes with clear KPIs.

9. Promotion & Market Positioning

• Develop a centralised information hub on the Ireland for Finance website.
• Leverage IDA Ireland and NTMA for promotional activities.
• Host high-profile insurance events to raise Ireland’s global profile.

As well as its own submission, Insurance Ireland also contributed to a joint response with a number of our financial services sector trade association partners highlighting the following three key measures:

1. Tax, regulatory, legislative environment: The Strategy to explicitly include tax as a key enabler on the agenda with accountability through KPIs for delivery.
2. Delivery Mechanism: A sustainable mechanism or framework is vital for industry to communicate legal, regulatory and tax measures or reforms to Government and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) to deliver a competitive legal and regulatory environment in Ireland. CBI, Department of Finance, Revenue, Pensions Authority, industry and representative organisations to sit on an action-oriented group.
3. Private assets: To implement a private assets regime that is effective and fit for purpose.

Insurance Ireland asked the Minster to read the joint response in conjunction with our insurance sector specific response.

Insurance Ireland looks forward to engaging with Minister Troy, the Department of Finance and the wider Government when the new strategy is published.