Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mairéad McGrath and Brian Ó Domhnaill for helping us to put this motion together. What we are essentially calling for is that the Government makes an order so there is a definite legal requirement on business and all entities to accept cash as a method of payment. Since Covid-19 we have sleepwalked into this situation where many places continue to demand cashless payments. In addition, the motion calls on the Government to lead by example and insist that it is a requirement that all public bodies accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash for payment of goods, services, taxes, levies, fees and charges. That part of our request is very important. The Government must make a definite order.

Deputy Michael Collins mentioned restaurants. What about the young boys and girls working in restaurants on a part-time basis and maybe for the minimum wage? They always depend on getting tips. If payments are to be cashless, the client or the customer will pay with a card but they will not have cash in their pockets to give a tip to the young person who is working part-time and depends on tips. This is a very important aspect of it.

The GAA now insists that tickets are booked online. I know of a very responsible gentleman who is a senior citizen and who gave his life to the GAA. At one of the last games in Killarney, he decided not to go because he was told he would have to book online and he did not want to impose on anyone. Yet when the GAA is fundraising, it can put a box on a stool or whatever outside the church gate and it has no problem with cash. That has to be reversed. The GAA is a respected part of our culture and our identity and is part of who we are and we depend on it to lead the way. The GAA cannot insist on cash only. I am asking the Government to make an order in that regard.

What about old people who may not be able to travel themselves and when they want someone to bring them a product from the chemist or whatever, they give them cash? How will a card work in that situation? In many parts of rural Ireland, people do not have access to the Internet or computers? What will happen when there is a power outage? We have to think of these things.

I am reliably told that when people go abroad they have to pay by card in most places. However, between the conversion rate and the extra charge for using the card, people do not know what is left in their accounts because the banks or the financial institutions do not update their accounts promptly and people are struggling at the end of their visit and do not have enough funds to continue. Those things are very important. There is no point agreeing with our motion; the Government must act. We are asking the Government to make an order that it is a legal requirement for everyone to accept by cash. It cannot be just some people. This includes Government offices and Departments which, in many instances, look for payment online or whatever and will send out the goods to people then. This is not fair on ordinary people. What about the people who do not have a bank account or credit facilities available to them? Those people cannot be disenfranchised.

I am appealing to the Minister of State in the strongest terms. We would have liked to have seen the Minister for Finance here but the Minister of State is a Minister too and we depend on him to take our message on board and ask for our request to be adhered to because this is very serious. We are going down the wrong road if we are going to allow a cashless situation to arise because it is just not fair on ordinary people.

See this speech in context