Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

It is important to be aware that section 48 does not prevent travel agents from recovering the cost of the credit card operation. I accept the important point made by Deputy Upton to the effect that spreading this charge across all payments has an impact on other consumers. This is almost inevitable when one seeks to move towards a cashless society to get away from the difficulties inherent in transactions which are operated entirely by cash or cheque. I have not been able to find a means for counting the cost of cash and cheques. It is not just a cost to business but in many respects is a charge against the State and others. That has not been possible to assess properly, however, in the short time since this issue has been on the agenda. I accept it is a relatively short period since it came on the agenda in mid-February in the Seanad. Nevertheless, everybody who looks at the difficulties involved concedes that there are considerable advantages in general terms from a consumer viewpoint, in the provisions of section 48. People are even more convinced when section 48 is set beside section 49 and the other issues are dealt with which the debate, particularly on Committee Stage, threw up. Having considered all of that and given that generally speaking cash and cheques are among the most expensive methods of payment, it is in our interests to move towards a cashless society.

There are, of course, other issues relating to charges imposed by banks. In this instance, this is a slightly different issue and one that may be addressed in different legislation — and ultimately will have to be tackled, in any event. For the moment, however, it has not been possible to come up with a means to address the potential fallout and problems of concern to the ITAA and its members.

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