Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to delay the House because I am very conscious no amendments have been tabled. I monitored this Bill's progress through the Dáil. Section 5 deals with the access to cash criteria and I welcome it. It is really important. I and Deputy Fitzmaurice were featured in Agriland recently, which covered the issue extensively. The article referred to the importance of ATMs in our rural communities and the distribution of these machines. We have seen the exit of Ulster Bank and other banks from the marketplace and we have seen machines being decommissioned. It is really important we have access to cash. I spent a week in Portugal the week before last when there was a 17-hour power cut. Interestingly, there was an issue with ATMs there because there was no power. Cash is important and I just wanted to make that point in the context of section 5.

There was much discussion in the Dáil about this legislation, and its importance was very much taken on board. I thank the Minister of State and the Department for progressing it. It is particularly important for small communities that do not have access to banks and do not have transport links to big towns, and we have to geographically map and mark them out. There is a commitment in the legislation that there will be a certain distribution of ATMs around the country, but I do not know, and am not sure if anyone else knows, where they are currently. We need to be mindful of that, monitor it and talk to communities. It is important there is a source of cash. People like to go into town but they might not have transport. There might not be a bus and there might not be connectivity. People like to go into town, and independence is important for people all ages, where they can put their card into the hole in the wall, draw out their money for the week and manage it that way. ATMs are critically important and there are relatively simple models available.

Well done to all of the people involved in this legislation. I am glad the issue was taken on board. It is really important, especially for rural communities, to have, albeit automated, dispensing of cash. I ask the Minister of State, when resources allow and with the co-operation and co-ordination of the banks, to map out and provide an inventory of the locations of ATMs so that we do not see them slowly slipping away.