The Banking and Payments Federation, Ireland (BPFI) has written to the Taoiseach calling on the Government to introduce savings and investment accounts (SIA) to encourage people to invest their money and help make capital available to support businesses.
According to data from the Central Bank of Ireland, as of the end of December, Irish households held €169.8bn in savings combined. On an annual basis, household deposits increased by €10.6bn, or 6.7%, over the course of 2025.
In a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the BPFI said there was a growing need for the Irish Government to introduce SIAs which would enable the Government to boost participation in capital markets and increase the flow of domestic savings into Irish and European enterprises.
BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said it was “vital” Ireland looks at “what we can do at home to strengthen long-term savings, investment and financial resilience”.
“A domestic savings and investment account would give Irish households a simple, internationally competitive way to build assets over time while ensuring more domestic capital is available for Irish businesses and the wider European economy,” he said.
The BPFI said there were other countries that have investment accounts that have proven successful.
Sweden has an investment account system called ISK which has seen its value equal to 31% of the country’s GDP in 2024.
Anyone with a bank account can trade through an ISK account in Sweden and they are not subject to capital gains tax. The country has a strong history of fostering successful start-ups including Spotify and Klarna
“An Irish SIA, modelled on successful systems in other EU countries, would give savers a straightforward and tax-efficient way to invest for the long term, while helping to mobilise more domestic capital for future Irish enterprises,”Mr Hayes said.
“Even a partial replication of such participation in Ireland would materially expand the pool of long-term domestic savings and support investment in strategic growth sectors.”
Under current tax Irish tax rules, gains from investments in individual company shares are subject to a 33% capital gains tax while gains from investment in financial vehicles such as exchange traded funds are subject to a 38% tax upon exiting the position, or after eight years under the deemed disposal rule.
Mr Hayes said the SIA should “remove these barriers by including a simple and predictable tax structure, no withdrawal restrictions and no limits on geographic investment options”.
“Such an approach would support both individual financial resilience and Ireland’s broader economic needs by increasing the supply of long-term domestic capital available for Irish and EU companies.”
This comes amid moves within the EU to further integrate financial systems across the bloc.
Earlier this week, French president Emmanuel Macron said the EU should launch a means of joint borrowing, for example through eurobonds, as it would help challenge the hegemony of the US dollar.
In addition, the EU is pursuing a savings and investment union which seeks to create better financial opportunities for citizens, while enhancing the bloc’s financial system’s capability to connect savings with productive investments. It aims to allow easier access to capital across the EU, particularly for small- and medium-sized businesses.
