Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. He has just missed a very interesting Commencement matter on the subject of a basic income for artists. I was going to say that I hoped that the proposal I had not too long ago, that the loophole or the abuse of the artist's tax exemption, might help pay for such a basic income. However, that is not my matter here today.There should also be penalties for bad art. If we consider Agriculture House and what was there before it, it would make one wonder what some of our creative people get up to and how much of a debt we owe them.

On the subject of cash payments, one of the many changes Covid-19 has brought to our lives is the huge increase in payments by card, particularly contactless payment, rather than by cash. Those who would never have dreamt of paying for small amounts by card now happily tap for convenience. We are all carrying far less cash than we did two years ago. According to the main banks, automatic teller machine, ATM, withdrawals are down approximately one third compared to 2019 and card payments are up approximately one fifth. This is positive in some ways. Not only is it more sanitary but it reduces the amount of cash that gets lost or that can be stolen, as well the security costs for banks and businesses of transporting it.

However, there are significant downsides. The Consumers' Association of Ireland, CAI, warned recently that there is an increasing trend whereby businesses, in many cases, retail businesses, are now refusing to take cash and will only accept payment by card. This poses serious problems for many citizens, particularly people on limited budgets, low incomes or social welfare. Older people, not all but many, are culturally adapted to using cash and it helps them to manage their household budget. We always encourage people of whatever age to keep their savings in banks and not to keep large amounts of cash in their homes, particularly in the wake of the horrific robberies we have heard about recently.

In response to the CAI's comments, the Irish Independentstated the position of the Central Bank to be: "Consumers will continue to be able to use cash and will not be forced to use electronic payments." However, that just does not seem to be the case. As we know, there is often a big difference between what State agencies say and what the law actually provides. The Minister for Finance recently outlined to Deputy Nolan the legal position on this, which is:

If a business specifies in advance ... that payment must be in a form other than cash, the customer cannot subsequently claim a legal right to pay in cash. Therefore, under certain circumstances, retail businesses or service providers can refuse to accept payment in cash.

I wonder whether that recent statement by the Minister completely undercuts the position of the Central Bank.

I would like to draw the attention of the House and of the Minister of State to the European Commission 191/2010, on the scope of legal tender of euro banknotes and coins signed by Mr. Ollie Rehn. He was a regular visitor to those shores a decade ago, and by the sounds of it he liked to pay for things in cash while he was here. The recommendation states:

The acceptance of euro banknotes and coins as means of payments in retail transactions should be the rule. A refusal thereof should be possible only where (for example, the retailer has no change available)."

A recommendation is not binding law, as we both know, but it is a statement of best practice and Ireland, clearly, appears to be diverging from it.

I would be grateful if the Minister of State could clarify the right of people to use cash for payments? Can they insist on doing it or not? Is this issue currently governed by statute or it is a simple matter of contract under common law? Which recent statement on this was correct: that of the Minister or the position of the Central Bank? How do we reconcile the contradiction? What is the position of the Government on the Commission recommendation, to which I referred, on the scope of legal tender of euro banknotes and coins? I do not think we are in compliance at present. Should we be looking at ways to amend consumer law to allow citizens to pay for goods and services in cash if they wish to do so, or in almost every circumstance, to ensure that business cannot refuse cash in any blanket, capricious or arbitrary fashion? Perhaps at least in area of small retail transactions, this needs to be regulated.