The State has transferred the first in a series of annual payments into a fund set up to invest windfall gains from taxing multinationals.
€4.05 billion has been moved from the Exchequer to the Future Ireland Fund.
The fund is one of two vehicles set up to save some of the proceeds from corporation taxes paid by multinationals.
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers announced details of the transfer from the Exchequer to the fund today.
The Government set up the fund with the commitment that the equivalent of 0.8% of Gross Domestic Product would be transferred to the Future Ireland Fund annually.
There is already €4 billion in the fund which has been paid from the National Reserve Fund, which has been dissolved.
The second vehicle called the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund already has received a payment of €2 billion.
A further €6 billion will be transferred to the two funds next year.
The Future Ireland Fund is to support State expenditure from 2041 onwards.
Both funds are managed by the National Treasury Management Agency.
The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund's purpose is to support spending in the event of a deterioration in the public finances and on environmental projects from 2026 to 2030.
Contributions will be made to the Future Ireland Fund until 2035.
It is expected about €70 billion will be transferred to the fund during that period.
The Minister for Finance said today's transfer is a milestone event for the new Future Ireland Fund, as well as for the economy and for the future development of the country.
"It demonstrates the progress we are making with both this fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. These two long term savings funds are a vital element of managing the State's finances in a prudent and responsible manner over the coming decades," Jack Chambers said.
"In using the proceeds from volatile windfall tax receipts to help us meet the challenges we know our country will face, rather than using them to fund existing day to day expenditure, we are safeguarding and protecting our future," he said.
"This transfer of 0.8% of GDP means we will have invested more than €10 billion in the two funds by the end of the year, with that figure expected to rise to €16 billion by the end of 2025," he added.
Frank O'Connor, the chief executive of the NTMA, said that under the interim investment strategies for each fund, the NTMA is initially investing this money in a low-risk, high-credit quality portfolio of sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds, with the aim of generating stable and reliable returns with minimal risk.
"We are currently designing appropriate long-term strategies for each fund and putting in place the necessary people, skills and supporting infrastructure to manage the funds for the long term," he added.
