What's being proposed

On 31 March 2026, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris convened the first Savings and Investment Forum at the Central Bank of Ireland. His goal: design a new personal investment account for Irish people — and push through the legislation to make it available by 2027.

Harris wants to make investing "simpler, clearer and more accessible for ordinary people" and help their savings work harder over time. The aim is to legislate the framework in 2026 and have accounts available from 2027.

Why Harris thinks this is needed

There is approximately €170 billion sitting on deposit in Irish financial institutions. Most of that money is in standard bank accounts earning low returns — sometimes close to nothing. Meanwhile, inflation quietly reduces what those savings are worth year on year.

Harris has described Ireland as a "laggard" in this area. Irish people hold just over 2% of their financial assets in direct investments such as stocks and bonds — well below the European average.

Part of the problem is that investing in Ireland has been unusually complicated and expensive for ordinary people.

The tax problem investing currently has in Ireland

To understand why this matters, you need to understand two things.

Deemed disposal — this is a rule that applies to Irish funds (pooled investments managed by a financial institution). Every eight years, you are taxed on any gains in your fund — even if you haven't sold a single unit. The rate was 41% until Budget 2026 reduced it to 38%. This discourages long-term investing.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) — if you buy shares directly, you pay 33% tax on any profit when you sell. Again, above the European average.

Between these two taxes and the complexity of knowing which applies when, many Irish people simply leave money in a deposit account instead.

What the new account would look like

Harris has confirmed a few principles, with full details expected at Budget 2027 on 6 October 2026:

  • A single flat rate of annual tax — no entry tax, no exit tax when you withdraw. One annual charge on the balance above a certain threshold.
  • Simple to use — offered through banks and other financial institutions, not administered directly by the government.
  • Based on the Swedish model — Sweden's ISK accounts are held by close to half the adult population. In Sweden, the first €26,000 in the account is free of any annual charge. Harris is considering a similar threshold for Ireland.
  • Not a guaranteed return — this is not the SSIA. The old SSIA scheme (2001–2006) gave a 25% State top-up on savings. This scheme does not. Your money goes into investment funds, and those funds rise and fall with markets.

Does this affect you as a student?

Not yet — and possibly not for a while. Accounts aren't expected before 2027 at the earliest, and the full details won't be confirmed until October. The scheme is also most immediately useful to people who already have meaningful savings sitting in a bank.

That said, it's worth understanding the direction of travel. Harris has described the scheme as the "natural next step" of the Auto-Enrolment Pensions Scheme — the thinking being that auto-enrolment handles your pension automatically, and this new account gives you somewhere simple to put other savings and watch them grow.

For a student about to enter the workforce, that's a relevant framing. You'll be building up savings for the first time. The Punt Investing module covers the basics of how funds and compound returns work — worth reading now, before the accounts launch.

DISCLAIMER: This article is for educational purposes only. For personal financial advice, speak to an authorised financial advisor or contact MABS on 0818 07 2000.