Use of funds from the sale of the State's Stake in Aer Lingus

Question:
​To ask the Minister for Finance the way in which his Department has used the moneys the State received from the sale of its stake in Aer Lingus; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Connectivity Fund was established as a sub-fund of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) in 2015 to invest the €335 million proceeds from the sale of the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus with the aim of enabling and enhancing Ireland's physical, virtual and energy connectivity.
The NTMA have advised me that in 2017, the ISIF entered into two new investment commitments from this sub-fund (Port of Cork and Shannon Airport) and increased their investment commitment to Aqua Comms, bringing total investment commitments from the Connectivity Fund to €93 million: 

• Aqua Comms:  €26 million equity investment, to support Ireland's first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network interconnecting New York, Dublin and London via Killala, Co. Mayo.
• daa: €35 million investment in a 2028 bond issuance underpinning long-term financing for the operator of Dublin and Cork airports.
• Port of Cork: €18 million junior debt facility to enable the Port of Cork to relocate from its existing constrained locations in Cork City to a redeveloped site in Ringaskiddy.
• Shannon Airport: €14 million loan facility to support the upgrade of the existing runway, a core element of Shannon Airport’s capital investment programme.

Several other Connectivity Fund investment opportunities are currently being assessed under the ISIF's "double bottom line" mandate, which is to seek both commercial return and economic impact. These connectivity opportunities include potential investments in energy, air, sea and further data connectivity projects and businesses seeking to expand and enhance Ireland's international links.