Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain financial institutions are deeming accounts dormant where there has been no transactions over a three year period; and his views on this practice. [33864/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Dormant Accounts Act 2001 provides that accounts where there have been no customer-initiated transactions for fifteen years or more are dormant accounts and the balance in such accounts transferred to the Dormant Accounts Fund. The accounts remain with the banks in question and all monies can be reclaimed by the account holder at any time upon request. However, I understand that accounts may also be labelled dormant under a credit institution's internal procedures if there has been no activity on them for some time. It is important to stress that such accounts are not dormant under the legislation, but each institution uses its own archiving system to administer old accounts. While procedures may vary, customers should not be unduly inconvenienced in accessing their funds and should complain to the institution in the first instance, or to the Financial Service Ombudsman, in the event that they are still unsatisfied that their request for access to their accounts has been given appropriate attention and been dealt with in a timely manner.