Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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224. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Central Bank has a policy on whether bank ATM machines should dispense €50 notes to customers instead of the €20 note; the practice of retail banks here in relation to dispensing notes; the breakdown of actual notes dispensed in counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24648/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Central Bank that a recommendation contained in the National Payments Plan targeted a significant increase in the number of €10 notes dispensed from Irish ATMs. Targets were designed in order to increase the proportion of €10 notes in circulation with a view to making lower denomination notes available.

The specific targets contained in the National Payments Plan were for a minimum of 4% of all notes by volume distributed from non-retailer ATMs to be €10 notes from Q3 2013; and 5% of all notes by volume to be €10 notes from Q3 2014. This second target represented an increase of around 150% in the number of €10 notes dispensed from ATMs previously. These targets were met by the banks on the dates set, as part of their commitment to the broader goal of improving the efficiency of payments in the National Payments Plan.

Building on the recommendations in the National Payments Plan, the Central Bank has now set targets for the banks to achieve in terms of issuance of €10, €20 and €50 notes from ATMs by 2018. These targets were calculated following a study of the requirements of consumers given patterns of cash usage.

The targets are that 6-10% of all notes by volume are to be €10 notes by the end of 2018, 40-45% of all notes by volume are to be €20 notes and 45-50% of all notes by volume are to be €50 notes. The Central Bank is working, in co-operation with the commercial banks, towards these targets. The latest available data, for Q2 2016, on amounts actually dispensed shows that 7% of all notes are €10 notes, 35% of all notes are €20 notes and 58% of all notes are €50 notes. I am informed that this data is collected on a national basis and that it is not possible to provide data on a county-by-county basis.

By way of additional information, I am also informed by the Central Bank that the commercial banks are in the process of rolling out amended algorithms for their ATM fleet which will provide more choice for customers in relation to the denomination mix of their withdrawals.