Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 10, to delete lines 16 to 25 and substitute the following: “in respect of each NUTS 3 region—

(i) shall, by order, specify—

(I) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kilometres of an ATM accessible 24 hours,

(II) the minimum number of ATMs that ought to be available per 100,000 people in the region concerned,

(III) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kilometres of a cash service point, and

(IV) the minimum percentage of ATM that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairment and other forms of disabilities,”.

Deputy Daly referred to issues relating to access to cash and comparisons with what is happening in neighbouring jurisdictions. Amendment No. 4 would reduce the criteria that would be used here from 10 km to 5 km. It would also ensure access would be for 24 hours rather than on a shopping or business hours basis. Since we looked at this in pre-legislative scrutiny, we had the recent Storm Éowyn, which brought reality home for many people regarding the nature of digital services. We saw many communities left without power for quite a period. For weeks after the storm in some areas, cash again become king, since it was the only means of payment. It is a reminder of the importance of an underlying paper-based system, no matter how convenient digital systems are.

Our amendment to this enabling legislation aims to tighten up the criteria to a degree. We want it to be looked at on a basis of up to 5 km instead of up to 10 km. That is basically to ensure that a certain proportion of the population should have access to cash up to 5 km. The Government is proposing that it be up to 10 km. This is in line with the recommendation of the finance committee when it looked at this in pre-legislative scrutiny. A 10 km round trip to an ATM is not reasonable. We also seek to add into the definition the idea that the ATM needs to have 24-hour access. This is a key metric in assessing the availability for cash. As I said, it is handy if there are ATMs in shops and so on but if the shutters are down at 6 o'clock in the evening, access to cash is needed thereafter. Even though there is an ATM, if it is not available in those periods, then it is not available. We need to have a metric which looks at what ATMs are available on a 24-hour basis.

In Britain, 99.3% of Britain's urban population are currently within 1 mile of a free-to-use cash access point offering withdrawals and 98.6% of Britain's rural population are currently within 3 miles of free-to-use cash access points offering withdrawals. That puts into clear perspective that looking at this with distances larger than 5 km will not really give us the information we need to ensure we have a reasonable level of access to cash.

The last point of the amendment relates to accessibility for people with visual impairment and other disabilities. The standards must be led and assessed by people who are affected. I know there was great frustration from many organisations across the State, such as Voice of Vision Impairment, VVI, which represents people with visual impairment, when banks rolled out accessible ATMs without engaging with them. This has to be more than a box-ticking exercise and the best way to make it happen is to make sure that the Central Bank and the regulator have the oversight role to hold banks to account.

Amendment No. 5 deals with the issue of cearta teanga. Moltar leis go mbeadh cearta ag daoine a gcuid gnó a dhéanamh ag an ATM nó UMB i nGaeilge. Agus muid ag plé rochtain ar airgead tirim ó UMBanna, caithfear labhairt freisin faoin rochtain atá ag pobal labhartha ár dteanga náisiúnta ar airgead ó UMBanna. Tá cearta teanga i gceist leis an leasú seo. Ba chóir go ndéanfadh dul chun cinn sa teicneolaíocht ár saol níos éasca dúinn go léir, Gaeilgeoirí san áireamh. Tá sé níos fusa anois ná riamh seirbhísí a sholáthar trí Ghaeilge i suímh nach bhfuil gá le daoine le scileanna i dteangacha éagsúla a fhostú chun freastal ar phobail éagsúla. Ní gá ach inneall féinfhreastal ar nós UMB a chlárú chun an tseirbhís chéanna a sholáthar i réimse teangacha agus an rogha fágtha ag daoine. Sna blianta thart, rinneadh iarrachtaí chun a chinntiú go ndearna na meaisín seo freastal ar Ghaeilgeoirí ach, leis na blianta beaga anuas, tá meath sonraithe againn ar an dul chun cinn seo. Áit a raibh UMBanna de chuid Bhanc na hÉireann ag soláthar rogha Gaeilge agus a raibh seirbhísí fisiciúla ar fáil do chustaiméirí ar Ghaeilgeoirí iad, go háirithe i gceantair Ghaeltachta, feictear anois brainsí áitiúla ag dúnadh agus Béarla amháin ag na UMBanna. Mar sin, tá Sinn Féin ag moladh gur chóir go mbeadh rogha Gaeilge ar chomhchaighdeán leis an mBéarla ar gach UMB agus, má tá teanga réamhshocraithe mar rogha uathoibríoch ar an phríomhleathanach, go mbeadh an Ghaeilge mar an default agus deis ann teanga eile a roghnú. Is í an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an phointe deireanach seo ná go spreagfaidh úsáid na Gaeilge, más féidir de réir prionsabal na tairisceana gníomhaí, deis dul i dtaithí leis an teanga. Agus é sin ráite, glacann Sinn Féin leis gur chóir go mbeadh an rogha iompú ar an Bhéarla dóibh siúd atá á lorg agus roghanna eile teanga freisin. Chun costais a choimeád íseal do ghnólachtaí, cinntíonn an leasú seo nach mbeadh feidhm ag an riail nua seachas i gcás meaisín nua nó uasdátaithe tar éis don Acht seo a theacht i bhfeidhm.

The second amendment is about language rights. It is about the rights of Irish speakers, the rights of people in the Gaeltacht and the right to be able to withdraw your cash in Irish. In the case where there are multiple languages, we are saying that all ATMs should have the Irish language available. Where there are multiple languages, the main, default page should be in Irish, with an option to turn to English or indeed any other language. Given technology today, this is not impossible or costly. We are not asking for all these ATMs to be changed overnight. We are saying that where there is a new ATM or an upgrade in the software of the ATM, this would have to apply. That makes a lot of sense for all the parties here which talk about the restoration of our national language being a priority for all of us. This is one wee step which does not cost us anything but gives us an opportunity at a time when we are withdrawing cash to remind us that Irish is our national language.

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