I strongly welcome the Tánaiste's commitment to developing a national savings and investment strategy. It is the right direction, and there is obviously clear support for it. Irish households are strong savers, but too much of that money is sitting in low-yield accounts quietly losing value to inflation. If we are serious about building a culture of long-term investing, we must remove the barriers that discourage participation. The reduction in the exit tax rate on gains from 41% to 38% in the budget was a positive step. However, as long as the eight-year deemed disposal rule on exchange traded funds, ETFs, remains in place, long-term retail investors continue to be penalised. Taxing unrealised gains and interrupting compounding directly undermines the long-term behaviour we are trying to promote. If this strategy is to genuinely unlock investment, the eight-year deemed disposal rule should be removed.

This strategy is a really important step forward. I ask the Tánaiste to continue his ongoing engagement with the industry and to seriously consider removing the deemed disposal rule under the strategy.

This is an area I really want to get right. We have a very strong culture of saving in Ireland but not a strong culture of investment. That is not a criticism of anyone; that is just a reflection of the reality. We have €169 billion or €170 billion on deposit today in Ireland. Lots of people, despite the challenges families face, are trying to put a few bob away for their future, for a rainy day, for their kids or for whatever they are trying to do in their own lives. At the moment, not only are they not making money on this but sometimes they are losing money on it. We therefore need to look at how we can set up savings and investment accounts. I am absolutely committed to this. It is a priority for me in the two budgets I will deliver as finance Minister. As part of that, there are tax rates, tax sequencing and financial literacy. The issue of deemed disposal is valid and important. We just need to consider all of these in the round and how to move forward. The next step is to bring a roadmap to the Government before Easter and to set up a savings and investment forum to engage directly with stakeholders with a view to being able to move forward later this year.