Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling this important motion, which we are happy to support.

As many Deputies have said, while it is the case, and not necessarily a bad thing, that we have an ever-growing number of digital and electronic financial transactions – for some, this is convenient and can be a good and useful thing – people need a choice. For many, if it is not possible to pay by cash and they are forced to do otherwise, they do not actually have the choice to buy products or conduct financial transactions digitally. People have problems with computer literacy – I do myself, to be honest – and often find dealing with online payments difficult and complicated. Many people do not have access to bank accounts. For many, the exchange of cash is linked to social interaction. One of the gripes I have and, I suspect, many older people, sociable people and those who are not so good at dealing with online interactions also have is the difficulty in talking to human beings these days in key areas of our economic and social life. It is a great frustration to me. It is not good that you cannot talk to someone in the local bank the way you used to be able to. Life is complicated and everyone's individual circumstances are different. Many online transactions or applications are literally about ticking boxes, but life is not always as straightforward as ticking particular boxes. The nuances, complexities and unique characteristics of people's individual lives and circumstances are often not accommodated by the online or digital format. As such, it is vital, as the motion is indicating, that we retain the option of, and guarantee the infrastructure to allow for, cash interactions.

I will add a few more dimensions to the debate in a slightly different direction. In some areas, there are ways to remove cash that do not disenfranchise people. This is not by handing it over to banks and private corporations, which may charge processing fees and where it becomes difficult as a human being to interact with them, but by removing certain areas from the money economy altogether.

This is one reason as to why it would be a good idea to have free public transport. It would encourage people to get out of their cars and onto public transport. Having free and open access to the public transport system would overcome the difficulty of people not having cash or cards with them in order to get on a bus when necessary, even at the basic social level. There are parts of society in respect of which we could and should do that. Services could be run on an not-for-profit basis, and certain public services could be provided simply by dint of the fact that someone is a citizen of society and is entitled to do those things.

We had a heated political conflict over the issue of water charges because people felt - they expressed their views strongly and effectively - that water is a basic human right and should not be commodified. Water should not have a price tag. It costs money to build water infrastructure-----

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