Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Is the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, taking this?

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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No.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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We will have to wait for the Minister of State, Deputy Troy.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, to delete lines 13 to 21 and substitute the following:

“ “credit institution” means any of the following that provides, or offers to provide, current accounts in the State:

(a) the holder of a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971;

(b) the holder of an authorisation under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971;

(c) a credit institution authorised and supervised by the competent authority of another Member State that carries on business in the State, by way of the establishment of a branch in the State, in accordance with the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 158 of 2014);

(d) a credit union registered as such under the Credit Union Act 1997;”.

The amendments in this group relate to the definitions in section 2. Amendment No. 1 changes the definition of a "credit institution" to insert a reference to the establishment of a branch for "credit institution[s] authorised and supervised by the competent authority of another Member State". This has been proposed for technical reasons to ensure such credit institutions report statistical information to the Central Bank in respect of their operations in Ireland.

Amendment No. 2 changes the definition of "current account" to refer to the lodgment and withdrawal of "funds", as the definition of "current account" in the Bill refers to the ability to deposit and withdraw cash. Some current accounts, such as those from Revolut and other online banks, do not offer a direct cash lodgment facility. Therefore, these accounts would not satisfy the definition as currently worded. While none of the online-only banks currently meet the quantitative criteria of the designated entities, there was never any intention to exclude them, and doing so would be likely to lead to further legal challenges on state aid and competition grounds. In addition, failure to address this issue could leave the legislation open to gaming. For instance, a designated entity could decide to no longer facilitate the depositing of cash in new current accounts. It has always been the policy intention that online current account providers would become designated entities if they satisfied the criteria regarding the shares of the current accounts and household deposits.

Amendment No. 3 is largely technical in nature and inserts a new definition of "funds" to ensure the proper functioning of the updated definition of "current account" in amendment No. 2. This definition of "funds" is as set out in EU Directive 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015, or the payment services directive. As part of this amendment, section 4 is proposed to be deleted, as the provisions of that section are no longer needed after the addition of a new section 48, which I will propose and discuss with amendment No. 8.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to discuss the overall Bill. I was recently in Liverpool, and in one of the local chip shops, there was a message on the glass screen that read:

Cash is our preferred method of payment. With cash, we retain 100% of its value. The card processing companies get 0%. Big banks get 0%. Keep cash alive and support local businesses.

Over recent years, organisations that should really know better, such as the National Driver Licence Service, NDLS, the ploughing championships, Iarnród Éireann, the national car test, NCT, and the GAA, have rowed back from plans they had to eliminate cash payments. We also recently saw plans by one of the major supermarket retailers in Britain, which also operates here, to phase out cash payments at self-service checkouts. The motivation for this is always to do with making more profits for the company. There is nothing to do with conveniencing consumers. Access to cash remains, and will remain, crucial in our economy and society.

The same must be said with regard to banking services through the branch and ATM networks. A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Finance found that 37% of customers still visit their branch every month, and that number is greater in rural areas. Despite the push from the banks to move people towards online banking, there is a distrust of online services. People like to have cash in their hands and they should be facilitated. They should have an ability to access cash locally and conveniently. These services should be provided by banks, or ATM operators where ATM infrastructure has been sold off, and without unfair fees. In some places, particularly abroad, there is a charge of, say, €2 to access an ATM. In the North and in Britain, 95% of the population has free access to cash deposits and withdrawal facilities within 1 mile of where they live in urban areas and within 3 miles of where they live in rural areas.

The details of what communities, individuals and businesses will be able to depend on in future are missing from the legislation. The legislation must ensure that banks do not close cash facilities, including bank branches, where branches are a key local source of cash. The Bill does not protect the right to use cash, only to access it. It is critical that the Government, industry and regulators understand the important of access to cash for social and financial inclusion. Its use and access must be protected in legislation. Often, the lower paid workers will suffer, such as people who rely on tips. Even though legislation was introduced a few years ago to ensure they receive access to tips, the reality is that sometimes does not happen. Retailers should be required to accept cash as a form of payment. The predicted transition to a cashless society is neither inevitable nor desirable. Research has shown that reduced access to cash presents risks to rural communities and personal independence and creates risks of financial abuse and increased debt.

Similar to what we saw in the chip shop in Liverpool, we should keep cash alive, support local businesses and ensure that the transition and the money are there to keep as much money as possible in the hands of the local retailers.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 2:

In page 7, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following:

“(a) deposit or receive funds,

(b) withdraw or transfer funds, and”.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 3:

In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following definition: “ “funds” has the same meaning as it has in Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market;”.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 will be discussed together.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Amendment No. 4 proposes to change the required distance for the percentage of the population to be 5 km from an ATM or cash service point. It also proposes to add the criteria of a minimum percentage of ATMs that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairments and other forms of disabilities. Section 6 of the Bill sets out population criteria that will require a specified percentage of the population in a specified region to be within a set radius of not less than 5 km and not more than 10 km of an ATM. The minimum distance of 5 km was added in response to the finance committee's recommendation. A minimum distance of 5 km, a maximum distance of 10 km, minimum ATM numbers per 100,000 people and a local deficiency framework were deemed the most optimal approach to maintain access to cash in the State.

A distance of 5 km was considered on the basis of the committee's recommendation. This found that a 5 km criterion would be disproportionately restrictive as the population percentages would still be based on the December 2022 coverage levels and travel and geographic factors would inhibit attempts to remedy it. The preference is therefore to set the distance criterion to 10 km in the first instance, which represents approximately 99% of the population being covered. A 10 km distance, coupled with the local deficiency process, will provide an initial indication of the number of ATMs and cash service points necessary to provide sufficient and effective access to cash.

The local deficiencies process complements the 10 km criterion by providing a framework to address any deficiencies in the ATM coverage. Local deficiency is the term in the legislation for locations in the NUTS 3 region where particular difficulties arise in accessing cash, even if the access to cash criteria for that region are being complied with. It is possible that changes in the ATM locations, branch closures or independently-made changes in the An Post network could give rise to localised difficulties in accessing cash, even where the criteria for the relevant NUTS 3 region are still being complied with. In these cases, the local deficiency provisions of the Bill will come into effect. A person can notify the Central Bank of Ireland of local deficiencies or potential local deficiencies. The Central Bank will assess submissions and determine whether there is a deficiency that warrants a remedy. If so, the Central Bank of Ireland will notify the designated entities, which will have at least one month or up to eight weeks to present proposals to the bank to address the breach. Where the Central Bank of Ireland is satisfied that the remedy is adequate, the designated entities will implement it.

Where the Central Bank of Ireland is not satisfied that the remedy is adequate, it will have the power to issue a draft direction setting out measures to be taken by a specified deadline to one or more designated entities to remedy the deficiency. Relevant designated entities may provide observations on the draft direction within two weeks and the Central Bank of Ireland may amend or affirm the direction. Where designated entities do not comply with the direction, the bank may implement its sanction procedure. Prior to the implementation of the local deficiencies framework, the Central Bank of Ireland is required to produce guidance on the assessment and classification of local deficiencies and when a remedy is appropriate and proportionate. The guidance must be prepared within 12 months of the commencement of the Act. It will also detail the steps the public can take to begin the process of having a local deficiency assessed.

Following commencement of the legislation and once the Central Bank has gathered the necessary information, the Central Bank will review how the criteria operate in practice to see if the 10 km maximum distance for ATMs and cash service points, coupled with minimum ATM numbers per hundred thousand and the local deficiencies process, provide sufficient and effective access to cash. The distance can be adjusted in future if, following data collection and review by the Central Bank, doing so would serve a useful purpose.

Accessibility is governed by the European Union (Accessibility Requirements of Products and Services) Regulation 2023, SI 636 of 2023, which transposed the requirements of the European Accessibility Act into Irish law. This includes requirements that the ATM contains features, elements and functions that allow persons with disabilities to access, perceive, operate, understand and control them. SI 636 of 2023 addresses accessibility issues raised by the committee in the pre-legislative scrutiny report. The implementation of this legislation is the responsibility of the Minister for children, disability and equality. Monitoring and compliance of the ATM accessibility requirements will lie with the Central Bank of Ireland. ATMs installed after 28 June 2025 must comply with the regulatory requirements. ATMs in use before that date may continue to be used until the end of their economically useful lives or no longer than 20 years after they entered into use. Accordingly, it is not proposed to accept this amendment.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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No other Members are indicating. For the sake of completeness, will Deputy Doherty move-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I have moved amendment No. 4.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is section 6 and amendment No. 4. Is the amendment agreed?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Agreed.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Not agreed.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The question is that the amendment be made. Those in favour, say "Tá".

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Tá.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Those in favour, say "Níl".

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Níl.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The question is carried. I ask Deputy Doherty to move amendment No. 5.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Thank you. Just for clarification, the Ceann Comhairle declared the question carried. So the amendment has been carried?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The amendment is lost, excuse me. The Deputy is correct. The amendment is lost.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I thought it was carried.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you. The amendment is lost.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Are we sure it was lost?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Well, you have not moved amendment No. 5 yet.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You know something, I should not have raised anything at all.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Deputy. Will you move amendment No. 5 please?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 5:

In page 12, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(7) In the case of any new ATM which enters operation following the commencement of this Act, or any existing ATM in operation whose operating software is updated following commencement of this Act—

(a) the option of a full service of equal quality shall be made available to consumers in at least both official languages, with the Irish language option given no less prominence than any other language option, and

(b) where one language option serves as the default home screen option on an ATM, this default shall be the first official language.”.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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There is no further discussion from either side.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 6:

In page 12, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Report on the acceptance of cash within the Irish economy and to set out a legislative approach to ensuring the broad obligation to accept cash into the future

7. The Minister shall, in recognition of the interrelationship between access to cash and acceptance of cash will within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann report the acceptance of cash within the Irish economy and to set out a legislative approach to ensuring the broad obligation to accept cash into the future.”.

This amendment would insert a new section into this legislation. It asks the Central Bank of Ireland to collect and publish data on cash infrastructure. It calls for a report on the acceptance of cash and on how we ensure, legally, that the broad acceptance of cash would take effect in our State, or where it is at a point in time. Without legal protection to ensure acceptance of cash, all this Bill will achieve is the managed decline of cash because we see areas where cash is not accepted. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but cash is only good if you can use it. Euro banknotes and coins are legal tender in the euro area, with cash being the only form of Central Bank money to which everyone can have direct access to currently. This means that all other money is created by the creation of debt, the vast majority by the private banking sector or system. We need a digital euro to give us a public form of digital money, but until this happens, we only have cash.

This issue goes from the ground level, where people want the right to use their cash in their local shops or when they go to watch their local football team, all the way to the core of our economic and monetary system. We cannot and should not give up on cash. For many people, cash helps them to track their expenses. It is not required that they be literate or even computer literate to use cash. It ensures their freedom and autonomy. Banknotes and coins are the only form of money people can keep without involving a third party. They do not need access to equipment, access to the Internet or even electricity to pay with cash, which means it can be used even when the power is down or they lose their card.

The EU Commission recommendation from 2010 sought to clarify the definition of legal tender as set out in EU treaties. That recommendation clarified legal tender. It implied mandatory acceptance, but that was never reflected in Irish law or in the State's approach to cash. In June 2023, the European Commission adopted a draft regulation seeking to give force to that recommendation. The European Commission's proposal requires that euro cash acceptance should be mandatory across the euro area.

We should not have to wait for the EU to tell us that this is what we have to do. We can and should take the necessary steps to protect the use of cash. If that is not done, as I said, there is no point having access to cash if where people want to spend that cash, or the businesses or entities in which they want to use it, will not accept it.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Bill but also encourage the Minister of State to accept the amendments to it. Being from County Mayo and rural Ireland, and Storm Éowyn was mentioned by Deputy Doherty, I see at first hand the importance of a Bill such this and the Bill having a legal standing for businesses' acceptance of cash. I commend the post offices on the Trojan work they did when they did not have services from Eir and others and still did their very best to provide cash for people.

This is also vitally important for elderly people living in rural Ireland who want to deal with their own cash affairs and in order that they do not have to hand their card, and trust their numbers and access to the whole of their bank balance, to somebody. It is vital they have cash.

Has any audit been done on the impact of changes that banks have forced as regards behaviour in using cash? Has any analysis been done of the impact that has on voluntary and charitable organisations? This Bill is vitally important, especially to rural Ireland.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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There is an old saying, "Cash is king." I agree with that. It is very important that cash is facilitated. As a postmaster myself, I fully appreciate what Deputy Conway-Walsh said about the good work the post office network did in making sure people's pensions and unemployment benefit were paid out, even though these were not on the system, so to speak, and manually did it to make sure cash was in circulation.

One thing I always say is the best way to make sure these services are preserved into the future is for people to use them. I often give my own experience as an example. When I was working at the post office in my home village ten or 15 years ago, we made 200 payments on average on Fridays. Now we pay out 40% of that figure. That is not because the population of the village is declining. The simple reality is that people are taking the option to get payments paid into their bank accounts. That is their entitlement; I am not saying it is not. People are moving away from cash. The reason we have this legislation in place is to protect the infrastructure based on the 2022 levels. The fact of the matter is many people are using cash less and less frequently.

With regard to the point about cash acceptance made by Deputy Doherty, the European Commission published a proposal for the regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins in June 2023. The proposal would provide for mandatory acceptance of cash in the euro area, with some exceptions. European Council working party meetings on the proposal are under way and progress is being made towards gaining agreement on a general approach. The proposal included a requirement that member states prepare and submit an annual report on the acceptance of cash.

In October 2024, the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Jack Chambers, launched a national payment strategy at the Central Bank of Ireland's offices and published the national payment strategy on the Department's website. The national payment strategy contains 16 further outcome recommendations in areas such as cash, resilience of payments, payment fraud, account-to-account payments and data collection initiatives. With regard to cash acceptance, the national payments framework recommends cash acceptance or cash facilitation in the public sector where a public body levies fines or fees or provides goods or services for a charge. The national payment strategy proposes that all Government Departments and bodies under their aegis accept a range of electronic and non-electronic payments, including cash. If a body cannot accept cash directly, it must arrange immediately for the facilitation of cash payments through a third party.

In November 2024, the Secretary General of the Department of Finance wrote to all other Secretaries General notifying them of this requirement and that any future contracts to be agreed

between Government Departments, and bodies under their aegis, with third parties that involve seeking payment from the public must also include a cash acceptance or facilitation element. Government Departments and bodies under their aegis will be required to confirm, via their annual reports, that they are in compliance with the recommendation, further supporting the need for oversight and review.

Future outcome 3.3 of the national payment strategy sets out that there will be a comprehensive overview of the national cash cycle environment that will inform policy thinking and formation related to cash and payments. Accepting this amendment would therefore represent a duplication of effort.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 7:

In page 18, to delete lines 23 to 35 and substitute the following: “(2) The Minister shall, following consultation with the Bank, make regulations to prohibit the charging of an access fee where the withdrawal concerned is from a relevant account.”.

This is a simple amendment. The legislation states that the Minister may, following regulations, prohibit the charging of ATM access fees or a set-up cap of such ATM access fees. Access fees for withdrawing cash from a relevant account should not be allowed. The amendment is in keeping with that view. I ask the Minister of State to outline where access fees are being charged currently and if they are being charged for withdrawals from a relevant account. If access fees are not being charged currently, why would the Minister of State not agree to an amendment ensuring access fees are not charged in the future?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Access fees are a charge, usually a flat-rate fee irrespective of the amount being withdrawn, levied by an ATM operator to use a specific ATM. Most of us pay bank fees and charges to our current account providers. However, customers of Irish banks and payment service providers have not been subject to what are known as domestic access fees or ATM access fees. Access fees have not been charged for domestic withdrawals in Ireland to date due to Visa and Mastercard rules. However, visitors, including those from EU countries, are generally subject to such fees when using non-ATMs. Likewise, Irish account holders often have to pay access fees when using ATMs abroad.

The status quo is dependent on Visa and Mastercard policies. These entities may change their rules to permit such fees in the future. Consequently, the Bill provides the Minister for Finance the power to make regulations to prohibit or cap access fees should they become a barrier to financial inclusion. However, the clear legal advice was the cap or ban must apply to all cards issued in EU countries. Therefore, if the amendment were accepted and access fees banned, revenue from access fees charged to EU visitors by ATM deployers would be lost. This would harm the commercial viability of certain ATMs, particularly those in areas with high tourist traffic, and could lead to their removal in more rural areas where such revenue is necessary for the viability of the ATM in question.

While compliance by the designated entities with the access to cash criteria should mean new ATMs are installed, there is no guarantee they would be at the same location and this would be disruptive for communities. The introduction of an immediate prohibition on access fees would also place an increased burden on designated entities. It is for this reason the current wording of the section allows the Minister for Finance to either cap or ban access fees, as appropriate, rather than compelling such an intervention. It means the Minister for Finance can act in the future if access fees were to be introduced and impair access to cash, affordability and be harmful to financial inclusion.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 8:

In page 40, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following new section:

“Amendment of section 61G of Act of 1942

48. Section 61G(1) of the Act of 1942 is amended— (a) by the substitution of “a designated enactment, a designated statutory instrument

or the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 (in so far as

that Act is not a designated enactment)” for “a designated enactment or

designated statutory instrument”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) in the case of a body corporate—

(i) by leaving the notice or other document at, or

(ii) by sending it by prepaid post to,

the head office, a registered office or a principal office of the body corporate, or”.”.

This amendment concerns the serving of notices as part of the regulatory framework introduced in the Bill. Under the existing section 4 of the Bill, a notice, notification, direction or other document may be served on the recipient in person or in hard copy by delivery. It does not provide for the serving of notices by electronic means. This amendment is required to ensure that notices under the Bill may be served by electronic means to cash-in-transit providers and ATM operators who will fall under the regulatory framework introduced in the Bill.

The proposed amendment addresses this by amending section 61G of the Central Bank Act 1942 to specifically reference the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill once enacted. Naming this Bill in section 61G(1) of the Central Bank Act 1942 adds it to the list of designated enactments and designated statutory instruments to which section 61G of the Central Bank Act 1942 applies. This change will allow notice under this Bill to be served electronically. Service of notices electronically under the 1942 Act is allowed for under SI 177 of 2023. The inclusion of the Bill in section 61G removes the need for a specific section in the Bill on the giving of notices and hence section 4 of the Bill will be deleted.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Bill will now be sent to the Seanad.