Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I hope this Bill is the first step in counteracting what I think is a process of profit-chasing by the banks by removing vital in-person infrastructure and services. I hope it is the start of the urgent action needed to ensure everyone has access to cash and banking services and is able to use cash across the economy.

Most people have felt the effects of year after year of branch closures across the State. For many people, it is now extremely difficult to find a branch nearby, let alone one that offers a full range of services. As there is a general election coming up, I went into the bank where we have our bank account because I normally get a short-term overdraft. I always dealt with a finance manager in the bank and would sit down and talk to them. I was told the bank does not do that anymore and that none of the branches do. People have to ring a number now and deal with them over the telephone. It is much more difficult to explain and go through everything over the telephone than it is when you are sitting in front of a person. These types of things obviously affect other people as well.

There has been a mad dash by the banks to try to move everyone onto an Internet banking system to save themselves costs at the expense of anyone who cannot afford the technology buy-in, is not able to travel greater distances or simply does not know how to use the Internet. It is cutting services to make a profit, by banks that would not exist without public bailouts after 2008.

From 2018 to 2023, we saw 176 branch closures across the various banks. This has left communities across Ireland without a bank in their area or town and even without access to an ATM. In Inchicore, where I live, there used to be three banks. There are no banks now. There used to be three ATMs for the public. There are now only two and they are in a supermarket and a petrol station around the corner. That ATM seldom has money in it. This is a serious reduction in people's ability to access services that are central to everyday life.

While I welcome the Bill, this is an issue that far exceeds the need for guaranteed ATM access. It is about guaranteed access to banking services for all. It is about social and economic inclusion and, ultimately, about whether we allow the removal of public good for the purposes of private profit. These banks were bailed out by the taxpayer. It will take generations to pay off that debt. They would not be here without ordinary people and taxpayers' money. There should be an obligation for them to provide these services to all who need them.

I would like to echo Mr. Tom Ruttledge of the Financial Services Union when he said these banks were "withdrawing services from locations because it suits their cost model, not because it suits their customers". I also echo the FSU’s call for a five-year moratorium on branch closures. These banks only exist because of public money, and they should be required - this Bill proves it is possible - to provide a service to the public.

We have a decline in ATM use rates in this country. Some of that is due to the proliferation of card payment and online banking. Some of it is down to a lack of access to ATMs. Plenty of people still use cash as their primary mode of payment and budgeting, however. We cannot act like in-person banking and the use of cash is a thing of the past when so many still rely on it. There is a need for cash in society, whether it be elderly people who might not have access to digital services or know how to access them, people with disabilities who need access to cash services or people who have spent their entire lives budgeting through cash. There are also broad groups of people for whom cash is a fundamental pillar of how they make or raise money, such as charitable donations, tips, busking, homelessness and even communions and confirmations. Access to cash and disposable cash is central to the income of many types of groups and people.

Cash has a limited buy-in. People do not need to purchase the newest smartphone to access it. They do not need to pay monthly phone data bills to have access to cash. Not everyone can afford the buy-in the digitalisation of banking requires. Cash will always be a much cheaper option for those on low-pay or fixed incomes or those who are just struggling to get by.

There is also the problem with digital literacy. Many people grew up with no access or exposure to technology and they would be left out by any significant move to a cashless society. People who do not have that literacy but are pushed to using online payments and banking are far more susceptible to fraud and cybercrime. We can add this to the fact that many people have been using cash as a way of budgeting their whole lives. I do it myself. You take the money out on a Sunday or at the weekend and that is your money for the week. We are facing a cost-of-living crisis, soaring rents and mortgages, massive inflation and huge rises in bills, and any move to push people away from the way they have been budgeting their whole lives should be opposed.

We need Bills like this which ensure access to ATMs, but we need to go further, with real regulation on banks to provide proper access not just to cash services, but to all banking services. We should mandate the acceptance of cash in the economy, like they do in France, to ensure that those who want to use cash day by day can continue to do so into the future.

Ultimately, these are vital services that are central to people’s everyday needs. We cannot allow those services to exist at the whim of some of the biggest profit-making businesses in the world. We need a real public banking option so people have guaranteed access to services that are run for the public good and not in danger of succumbing to collapses like the one in 2008, as well laws to ensure that cash is accepted in all businesses in our economy.

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