Mr. Brian McDowell:

In the past 12 months, more than 700 to 800 ATMs have been sold to private operators. The UK is considering legislation on access to cash, so it is much further ahead of us. We have written to our Minister about considering legislation on accessing cash. My local ATM, which was sold off a number of months ago, is now charging me €2 to take out my own money. A private operator has bought 700 to 800 ATMs and one would imagine that it is looking to make money from them. It is only a matter of time. It happens in the UK, although the UK has much better regulation as regards ATMs. As Mr. O’Connell mentioned, when we attended its banking forum a number of months ago, there was a great deal of discussion about access to cash and possible legislation. The UK Government is running a public consultation process on the matter. The UK tracks ATMs to see how far away people are from them, so the UK knows exactly where in the country each ATM is located, and its regulation on providing people with access to same is much stricter.