Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 1 June 2022
Committee on Budgetary Oversight
Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council
Mr. Eddie Casey:
That is an interesting point. There is a gap in that when it is taken out as cash, we do not know where it goes afterwards. We have very good insights into where the card spending goes. We know it is on groceries, fuel, restaurants, retail or whatever because this is where the point of sale was. However, if it is an ATM withdrawal, it is anyone's guess where it ends up. We then need to rely on the survey data afterwards to try to fill in those gaps. As the Chairman said, there has been a long-term trend towards more card-based transactions which was accelerated during the Covid pandemic because people were less inclined to use cash. That might not reverse as quickly and it might be here to stay.
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