The State’s Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) had, as of the end of last year, invested in five companies named in the latest UN Human Rights Office database of firms involved in certain illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which manages ISIF, told members of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the investments in a letter this month.
The list is comprised of shares in US-headquartered accommodation companies Airbnb and Booking Holdings and technology group Motorola , German building materials giant Heidelberg Materials and Luxembourg-based telecommunications and media group Altice.
The combined value of the stakes stood at €6.74 million.
That compared with ISIF investments in 17 companies in 2020 that were listed in the first iteration of the United Nations (UN) database.
The most recent version of the database, published last September, listed 158 companies in total.
“In 2024, ISIF took an investment decision to divest from six companies, all of which remain on the updated UN database, with a total value at the time of the divestment decision of approximately €2.95 million,” the NTMA letter said. This included a number of Israeli banks, an oil and gas conglomerate and supermarket operator.
Will a Middle East peace deal make any difference to inflation?
Listen |
32:03
“ISIF determined that the risk profile of these investments was no longer within its investment parameters and that the commercial objectives of these investments could be achieved via other investments,” it said.
The NTMA said it constructed its investments portfolio within the legislative framework set by the Oireachtas.
“The portfolio includes global equities and bonds where ISIF’s exposure can arise from passive investments tracking certain global or regional market indices; they are not an endorsement or a political statement in respect of an underlying equity or bond instrument,” it said.
The letter was a follow-up to an appearance by NTMA officials, led by chief executive Frank O’Connor, before the PAC on May 14th.
O’Connor told the meeting that “there have been a lot of technical issues around the UN list and there is talk of legislation and the practicalities of that”.
“From our perspective, we have to operate within the mandate laid down to us in the legislative process,” he said, noting that ISIF had exited investments in companies making significant money out of fossil fuels on foot of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018.
“We did some non-statutory exclusions on tobacco and nuclear weapons, and that was something that ISIF did over the years,” O’Connor added.
ISIF also divested itself of all its previous holdings in Israeli bonds last summer.
“Due to the escalating geopolitical tensions and conflict in the Middle East at the time and increasing risk associated with investments of this nature, ISIF determined in June 2025 that the risk profile of a number of sovereign bond holdings in the region was no longer within its investment parameters,” the fund said in the letter, responding to a question from PAC members for the full reasoning behind the move.
“Following this determination, ISIF initiated an internal approval process to divest its holdings of sovereign debt issued by Egypt, Israel and Jordan. This divestment was completed by July 10th, 2025, following the conclusion of this process.”
Read the full article at The Irish Times →
Ireland