Minister McGrath welcomes Fitch Ratings upgrade of Ireland’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Default Rating to ‘AA’; Outlook Stable

“I welcome the announcement by the Fitch Ratings agency to upgrade Ireland’s long-term credit rating to ‘AA’ with a stable outlook. This is a welcome demonstration of the fundamental resilience of our economy and the success of this government’s balanced and sustainable approach to budgetary policy.

"The Irish economy is in a good place, and this is reflected in our public finances which remain, at least at the headline level, robust. It is remarkable that even with all the challenges we have faced over the last number of years that we remain on such a positive trajectory.

"Of course, as I have said many times, there are still vulnerabilities to address. Our public finances remain exposed to volatile windfall corporation tax, paid by a small handful of highly profitable multinational firms.

"That is why we are establishing the two new long-term savings vehicles – the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund – to enable us to invest these revenues to prepare for future challenges that we know are on the horizon. The legislation is currently going through the Houses of the Oireachtas and I hope to have the legislation enacted before the summer recess.”