Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will review a matter (details supplied) regarding small businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27854/11]

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Legislative arrangements in respect of the banking sector and the supervision of charges and fees are matters of responsibility of the Minister for Finance and the Financial Regulator. Particular banking arrangements apply to cheque payments in respect of exports. As there is no centrally managed cross-border clearing system in operation for cheques, cheques drawn on banks in foreign countries which are lodged in a bank in Ireland must be cleared individually and may take a considerable time to clear or may be returned unpaid in accordance with the legislation and/or clearing rules in place in the country in which the cheque is drawn. If the cheque is denominated in another currency, the beneficiary will be exposed to exchange rate fluctuations until the value for the cheque is received. Charges applied to such transactions reflect the additional processing costs involved. The paper based nature of cheque payments leads to lengthy and more costly transaction procedures. These procedures can be reduced by using electronic payments for accepting or making cross-border payments.