Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has said Ireland is to declare its interest in becoming the base for the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
The AMLA, set to be established in 2024, will be a major EU institution tasked with overseeing compliance with anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism rules and standards.
Initially the agency will oversee the financial services sector before being expanded to the non-financial sector.
The agency will provide several hundred jobs across governance, technology, administration and business support areas.
Minister McGrath informed the Cabinet that Ireland is regarded as a potentially strong candidate given the country's significant financial services sector, skilled workforce, and its reputation for administration and governance.
There are currently nine prospective candidates and it is expected that the final decision will be made later this year.
"I believe Ireland is a great location for this important new EU authority," the minister said.
"We have a significant financial services sector, built over decades, that will be subject to AMLA's direction and the new Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Rulebook.
"Within that sector, there is good AMLCFT compliance as we have a robust framework which will be further enhanced by this new agency. Hosting it here will only add to Ireland’s and the EU’s compliance with international standards."
Changes to how projects under NDP to be considered
Meanwhile, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe brought a memo to Cabinet proposing changes to how projects under the National Development Plan (NDP) are approved.
This includes the building of homes, schools, hospitals, roads and public transport.
Under the changes aiming to speed up the approval process, the threshold for major projects will be upgraded from €100m to €200m.
There is also set to be more reporting to Government if a project is in difficulty and this will be provided in quarterly updates from departments and agencies.
Delivery of the NDP has been adversely impacted as a result of the pandemic, construction inflation, supply chain problems, labour shortages and legal challenges to planning decisions.
Separately, Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin brought a new five-year Creative Youth Plan to Cabinet.
The 2023-2027 plan will support creative programmes for tens of thousands of young people nationwide.
The minister will tell colleagues that the plan will help boost the creative potential of children and young people, aged up to 24 years.
It will seek to prioritise those at risk of disadvantage.
The previous five-year plan supported over 2,000 schools and youth centres.
