Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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671. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the value of services provided to the public by his Department and entities reporting to his Department where a payment is accepted by debit or credit card; the percentage of additional charge that is applied to such transactions under the merchant agreement; the total value of the additional charge in respect of debit and credit cards in 2012; if any portion of the additional charge accrued to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50142/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There are currently two areas of my Department which accept payment for services by credit or Debit card, these being the Driver and Vehicle Computer services division and the Mercantile Marine Office. The Driver and Vehicle Computer Services Division of the Department processed in excess of 2.56 million motor tax applications with a value of €533 million in 2012, through the online motor tax website, , these fees were then paid into the Local Government Fund. This represented 50% of overall motor tax receipts.

Under the merchant agreement, an average financial charge of 1% of the tax payment is applied to payments made through credit cards, while debit card payments are charged a flat fee of 23 cent each, irrespective of the value of the transaction. The total value of these charges in 2012 was €3.07 million. These charges, along with all charges incurred by the Department in collecting motor tax, are refunded to the Department from the Local Government Fund.  

The Mercantile Marine Office (MMO) accepts payments by debit and credit card (and by other methods of payment) for services provided under the Merchant Shipping and Wireless Telegraphy Acts. The total fee revenue transferred to the Exchequer in 2012 was €500,000, of which €169,053.43 related to debit and credit card transactions.  The financial charges involved vary for different credit and debit cards. For base card charges, the charges vary from 1.154% to 1.754% or a per transaction charge of between 16 cent and 21 cent. Premium cards incur an additional charge of 0.6%.  The MMO does not pass on the cost of debit and credit card transactions to the public.  The Road Transport Operator Licensing Unit of the Department is also preparing to introduce electronic payments by debit or credit card in the near future.

The charges incurred by the agencies under the Department's responsibility are a matter for the agencies themselves and I am forwarding the Deputy's question to them for a direct response to him. If the Deputy does not receive a response within ten working days, he should please contact my private office. It is important to note that while there are costs associated with payments through debit/credit cards, there are also significant costs for the Department and members of the public when paying through cash.