State fund invested in five firms named in UN report on Israeli settlements

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) held investments totaling €6.74 million in five companies identified in the latest UN Human Rights Office database of firms involved in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, as of the close of last year.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which manages ISIF, disclosed these investments to members of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. The companies include US-based accommodation giants Airbnb and Booking Holdings, technology group Motorola, German building materials firm Heidelberg Materials, and Luxembourg-based telecommunications company Altice.

This represents a decrease from ISIF's previous holdings; in 2020, the fund had investments in 17 companies listed in the UN database. The most recent UN list, published last September, includes 158 companies. The NTMA noted that in 2024, ISIF decided to divest from six companies, valued at approximately €2.95 million at the time of the decision. These divested holdings included Israeli banks, an oil and gas conglomerate, and a supermarket operator.

The NTMA stated that ISIF constructs its investment portfolio within its legislative framework, and that exposure to companies on such lists can arise from passive investments tracking global or regional market indices, not as political endorsements. The fund has previously divested from fossil fuels, tobacco, and nuclear weapons, and exited all holdings in Israeli bonds last summer due to escalating geopolitical tensions and associated risks.