THE GOVERNMENT is examining investments by the State's pension-fund body in companies operating in Zimbabwe, the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs has heard.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin told the committee that Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is studying the National Pension Reserve Fund's (NPRF) investment in firms with links to Zimbabwe.
In a presentation to the committee, NPRF investment director John Corrigan said recent media reports were incorrect in claiming that € 578 million - or 3 per cent - of the pension fund is invested in Zimbabwe on the basis that the NPRF holds shares in 14 firms which operate in Zimbabwe including Nestle, BP and Barclays Bank.
"The fund has shares of more than 2,500 companies in its global equity portfolio. Among them are multinational companies with a presence in dozens of countries around the world including, in some cases, Zimbabwe.
"Ten of the 14 companies identified as having operations in Zimbabwe also have operations in Ireland," Mr Corrigan said.
"It is inaccurate for these press reports to describe Barclays Bank, BP, Nestle and other such companies as Zimbabwe-based on the grounds that they have a presence in Zimbabwe, and it is incorrect to attribute their entire worth to their business interests in that country, which is the basis for the reported figure of € 578 million."
In light of recent events in Zimbabwe, Mr Corrigan told the committee, the NPRF has approached the companies to raise concerns expressed relating to their involvement in the country.
But Emmet Bergin, of development organisation Progressio, said raising concerns with the firms was not enough. He called on the Government, through the NPRF, to request that companies invested in by the fund with "proven links to the Mugabe regime" pull out of Zimbabwe, saying they provided a "lifeline for the regime".
If they do not comply, Mr Bergin told the committee, the NPRF should divest from these firms. He urged the Government to ensure the NPRF independently scrutinises all such firms.