Financial services sector welcomes government plan to add 9,000 jobs

In the new Ireland for Finance Strategy 2026-2030, the government has pledged to create 9,000 new financial services jobs over the next four years. Of the 70,000 international financial services jobs to be located in Ireland, the government expects that a quarter will be based outside of Dublin.

At present, the industry employs around 61,000 people across more than 600 firms, up from approximately 35,000 in 2015, and Ireland is now the fourth-largest exporter of financial services in the EU.

FSI, the Ibec group representing the financial services industry, applauded the government's plan to establish a cabinet sub-group on international financial services as well as the strategy's focus on digitization and upskilling.

“The new Ireland for Finance strategy is an important blueprint for the Government to deliver on its program commitment for 9,000 additional jobs in international financial services by 2030," said Audrey Crummy, deputy director of FSI.

“The strategy comes at a time of significant change for the industry, with intense international competition for investment and rapid technological and regulatory change reshaping financial services globally.

“This government policy chimes with FSI’s own five-year strategy, Securing Future Competitiveness, which set out a roadmap to drive the next phase of growth in Ireland’s financial services industry.”

The strategy sets out four ambitions: for Ireland to remain a competitive and trusted global international financial services center; to have the capacity to scale and attract expertise to enable economic growth in the EU; to leverage technological capability to support digital transformation; and to develop links with domestic businesses and citizens.

Key actions voiced in the strategy include cutting regulatory and legislative friction by implementing the Central Bank's simplification roadmap, introducing a new Regulatory Impact Assessment and accelerating the progress of relevant legislation.

The strategy also commits to modernizing legislation to support tokenization and private investment, and to putting digital assets on the agenda by establishing a digital assets industry group.

There are also pledges to back Ireland's fintech and start-up ecosystem and to open up new sources of climate finance.

In all, there are 31 planned actions in the strategy, which Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said would "help cut red tape, simplify regulatory and taxation frameworks, accelerate important financial services legislation, support innovation and ensure we have the skills needed for the next phase of growth."

 Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris.

“Government wants to support businesses to grow, but sometimes the best way we can do that is by stepping out of the way - reducing unnecessary burdens and allowing firms to get on with what they do best," he continued.

“I want Ireland to remain a stable, predictable and trusted home for international financial services, but our ambition must go further than maintaining what we have.

"We want to build scale, attract new expertise, embrace technologies such as AI and digital assets, and create stronger links between this sector and Irish businesses and citizens.

“This is about making sure Ireland remains one of the world’s leading financial services centers for the decades ahead, creating high-value jobs and economic opportunity right across the country.”

FSI said that continued partnership between government and industry will be critical to ensuring that the strategy’s ambitions translate into increased investment in Ireland.

* This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.