The Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 will come into force in full from 6 January 2025, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment confirmed yesterday.

It is designed to allow the minister for enterprise, trade and employment to respond to threats to Ireland’s security and public order posed by particular types of foreign investment, and to prevent or mitigate such threats.

It gives full effect to the EU FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452.

“This screening mechanism has been designed and tailored to suit Ireland’s needs, balancing our longstanding Foreign Direct Investment Strategy against the challenge posed by potentially hostile investments,” the Department said.

“The commencement of this screening mechanism will also provide reassurance to key trading partners that Ireland is a responsible global player, cognisant of the threat posed by the strategic and potentially hostile State-backed investment strategies being deployed by some third-country corporations.”