Departmental Strategies
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank the Senator very much for raising this issue. Financial literacy is an essential life skill and an important component of financial consumer protection, as the Senator clearly outlined. It does not just mean that individuals have financial knowledge; it also means that they have the skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to manage their money well.
The national financial literacy strategy, as the Senator knows, was launched in 2025. Its mission is to improve levels of financial literacy across Ireland and, by doing so, improve individual financial well-being and resilience. This is a five-year stakeholder-led strategy. It has the aim of working with Ireland's vibrant financial literacy ecosystem to improve co-ordination, collaboration and cohesion in delivery.
The Senator asked specifically about measurable progress in delivering on this vision. He mentioned figures of 44% and 43%. I had a quick look at the report and noted he is right about those. It is also true to say, however, that Ireland performs well when it comes to financial literacy. In fact, we are placed second among all the EU countries in the OECD report whose statistics the Senator mentioned. Of course, our level is not good enough and we have an awful lot more to do, but equally, and having regard to what our peers are doing, the figures show we are making genuine progress.
The Senator asked about the ongoing work to support financial literacy through the strategy. Last month, the strategy's 2025 review and action plan were published. They highlighted some of the successes that have taken place. For example, there were over 55,000 individual in-person engagements with financial literacy programmes by adults and nearly 170,000 individual engagements with financial literacy programmes by students.
Looking forward, there are more than 100 actions in the 2026-27 action plan. These cover areas such as digital financial literacy, understanding credit, managing debt, retail investor education, SME financial literacy and, as the Senator mentioned, fraud, including scams. On 10 June, the Tánaiste joined 65 stakeholders from across the financial literacy ecosystem to discuss how we could build on those successes and advance the strategy's mission. Among the building blocks is an initiative of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, the statutory body with responsibility for financial education. It has developed and launched a new set of money tools on its website, providing free and impartial financial information to support consumers to compare financial products and make the best financial decisions for their needs. The Department of Social Protection has supported consumer and employer understanding of auto-enrolment through awareness-raising. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, delivered 185 money-management education events right across Ireland, reaching almost 5,000 people. Investment education will be one of the focuses of the strategy for the next 18 months, alongside the development of the new investment account.
The Senator also mentioned fraud, including scams. Only in the last week, somebody I know very well came very close to having their accounts cleared. This is an intelligent person who has been using banking systems for a long time. Had that person been asked whether they would ever be caught, they would have said no. The telephone calls sounded so reasonable and so normal. When asked how the weather was in Dublin, the caller was actually able to respond, even though the call did not come from Dublin.
There is a lot of education needed, and individuals need to know that every single one of us, including the Senator and me, can be caught. Therefore, care is essential.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09