The Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022 will introduce a screening mechanism for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Ireland for the first time.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment will have the power to assess, investigate, authorise, impose conditions on, or prohibit third country investments, based on certain security and public order considerations.
The Government’s publication of this Bill was preceded by the Regulation (EU) 2019/452 (the FDI Regulation), which entered into force on 11 October 2020. The FDI Regulation seeks to address concerns of Member States regarding the movement of capital and the protection of strategic assets in the EU. The Bill contains provisions relating to Ireland’s reporting and cooperating obligations under the FDI Regulation.
Based on the current version of the Bill, it is not anticipated that the attractiveness of Ireland as an FDI destination will be affected.
Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022
The aim of the Bill is to “provide Government with powers to protect security or public order from hostile actors using ownership of, or influence over, businesses and assets to harm the State.”
The Bill is only concerned with investors from a ‘third country’, meaning a non-EU or EFTA country. Therefore, it does not apply to domestic transactions.
