The Central Bank is being urged to clarify whether responsibility for the approval of Israeli state bonds has reverted to Ireland after Luxembourg relinquished the role.
Luxembourg has decided not to renew its authorisation of Israeli bonds since it expired as of midnight.
Israel will now need another country to take on the role to bolster its ability to borrow through investors on European markets. Luxembourg held the role since September 2025.
As a result, responsibility for the approval of Israeli bonds could revert to the Central Bank of Ireland, which had been designated the “home” state for this responsibility since the UK left the European Union.
The Central Bank has declined to confirm whether it is assuming the role again, simply stating how the arrangement between Israel and the financial regulator of Luxembourg, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), expired today.
The Bank of Israel would have had to submit an application for its prospectus to Ireland by the end of August.
“The prospectus that was approved by the CSSF has expired today,” a Central Bank spokesperson told RTÉ.
In July, the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Makhlouf, insisted to the Oireachtas Finance Committee that the institution had acted lawfully in its handling of the controversial bonds.
However, he rejected claims that the bank could have prevented those bonds from being issued last year, nor does he believe that he can prevent them being issued again this year.
Sinn Féin’s Public Expenditure spokesperson and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Finance Committee Mairéad Farrell said the Central Bank needed to clarify what was happening with the bonds.
“We need urgent clarity from the Central Bank if a request for renewal of the Israeli bond prospectus has come to them from Israel and if this renewal has been accepted,” she said.
The Galway West TD added: “We should have nothing to do with the funding of the genocide in Gaza.
“We should not be renewing the prospectus, nor should we remain as home state for these bonds.
“The Government has sat on their hands in relation to this for well over a year, they had the time to act to ensure that we are not in this situation.
“Sinn Féin brought forward legislation on this in May of last year, the Government failed to act when they had the opportunity to.”
A Sinn Féin motion to prevent Ireland dealing with the bonds was defeated in the Dáil last year – although two Government supporting Independent TDs, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole, voted against the Coalition.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has previously told the Dáil that he had directed senior officials in his department to engage with the European Commission on the matter.
A Department of Finance spokesperson noted the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance has previously acknowledged how financial services are a devolved EU competency and so change needs to happen at the European level.
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“The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance directed senior officials in his Department to engage with the EU Commission on the matter of reviewing the EU Prospectus legislation following a report by the Joint Oireachtas committee on Finance,” the spokesperson said.
They added: “Department of Finance Officials outlined recent developments in Ireland and brought the Oireachtas Joint Committee’s Report to the attention of Commission officials.
“Specifically, officials sought the views of the Commission on the possibility of a legislative initiative by EU Commission to address the Oireachtas Committee’s issues.”
Mr Harris has also discussed the matter with the European Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Albuquerque.
“In their response to officials, the EU Commission indicated that they currently have no plans for a review of the Prospectus Regulation.
“Subsequently, the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance raised the JOC report and Government’s views more generally on wider Israeli matters with Commissioner Albuquerque, in person and by letter. A response is awaited.
“The Governor of the Central Bank and senior Bank officials have on more than one occasion set out the position.
“In such statements, the Bank has indicated that they did not, at any point, sell or oversee the sale of Israeli Bonds, the Bonds were not listed for sale in Ireland previously and are not sold in Ireland currently,” the spokesperson said.
“The Central Bank did not authorise, endorse or regulate the bonds issued under the Israeli bond programme.
“It assessed and approved the 2024 bond prospectus as meeting the disclosure requirements of the Prospectus Regulation,” they added.
