Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

175. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to support Irish businesses in preparation for the single euro payments area in view of the extra costs placed on them by the banks’ refusal to implement a business to business system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42715/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The aim of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) project is to create a single market for euro-denominated retail payments. SEPA is an EU initiative that will change the way that these payments are processed across Europe. SEPA will allow payment systems users to make euro-denominated retail electronic payments to payees located in any of the participating countries, using a single payment account and a single set of payment instruments.

SEPA comes into full effect on 1 February 2014 and businesses will need to ensure that payroll, direct debit and accounting systems are SEPA-ready.

The implementation of SEPA within Ireland is overseen by the National Payments Plan (NPP) Steering Committee, which was established in 2012 to modernise the way payments are made in Ireland. In this regard, an NPP-SEPA sub-group has been formed, consisting of representatives of consumers, businesses, Government and banks. This sub group provides an avenue for the discussion of any issues that arise in the process of migrating to SEPA.

I understand from the Central Bank that there is significant support available to Irish businesses to help them make the transition to SEPA. The Irish banking sector has led with a comprehensive informational campaign overseen by the Central Bank. All impacted businesses (approx. 50,000) have had individual contact from their bank and the requirements of SEPA outlined to them. The ‘readyforsepa.ie’ website provides general SEPA-related information and in addition, all of the banks have dedicated SEPA pages on their own websites. SEPA migration teams are available to help businesses deal with the necessary changes and many of the banks also have educational videos and webcasts supporting the migration effort. The payments software industry has also provided significant support to the business sector, working with the banking industry to make this complex change happen as seamlessly as possible.

While not all Irish banks are making the ‘business-to-business’ variant of the SEPA direct debit (SDD) scheme available, this should not result in any additional costs being placed on Irish businesses. The banks, through the Irish Payments Services Organisation (IPSO, the representative body for the payments industry in Ireland) have recently announced a SEPA Business Service that will be in place from 1 December, which is an interim direct debit solution that will be provided pending the introduction of the full SDD ‘business-to-business’ service at a later date. The costs associated with this service should be no greater than those associated with the full SDD 'business to business’ scheme.