The Central Bank is being urged to clarify whether responsibility for the approval of Israeli state bonds has reverted to Ireland after Luxembourg relinquished the role.
Luxembourg has decided not to renew its authorisation of Israeli bonds since it expired as of midnight.
Israel will now need another country to take on the role to bolster its ability to borrow through investors on European markets. Luxembourg held the role since September 2025.
As a result, responsibility for the approval of Israeli bonds could revert to the Central Bank of Ireland, which had been designated the “home” state for this responsibility since the UK left the European Union.
The Central Bank has declined to confirm whether it is assuming the role again, simply stating how the arrangement between Israel and the financial regulator of Luxembourg, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), expired today.
The Bank of Israel would have had to submit an application for its prospectus to Ireland by the end of August.
“The prospectus that was approved by the CSSF has expired today,” a Central Bank spokesperson told RTÉ.
In July, the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Makhlouf, insisted to the Oireachtas Finance Committee that the institution had acted lawfully in its handling of the controversial bonds.
However, he rejected claims that the bank could have prevented those bonds from being issued last year, nor does he believe that he can prevent them being issued again this year.
Sinn Féin’s Public Expenditure spokesperson and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Finance Committee Mairéad Farrell said the Central Bank needed to clarify what was happening with the bonds.
“We need urgent clarity from the Central Bank if a request for renewal of the Israeli bond prospectus has come to them from Israel and if this renewal has been accepted,” she said.
The Galway West TD added: “We should have nothing to do with the funding of the genocide in Gaza.
“We should not be renewing the prospectus, nor should we remain as home state for these bonds.
“The Government has sat on their hands in relation to this for well over a year, they had the time to act to ensure that we are not in this situation.
“Sinn Féin brought forward legislation on this in May of last year, the Government failed to act when they had the opportunity to.”
A Sinn Féin motion to prevent Ireland dealing with the bonds was defeated in the Dáil last year – although two Government supporting Independent TDs, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole, voted against the Coalition.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has previously told the Dáil that he had directed senior officials in his department to engage with the European Commission on the matter.