Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Finance the legal age of consent for a minor to open a bank, credit union or other financial account without the written signature of a parent or legal guardian; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30436/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that, in general, you cannot open a standard current account until you are aged 18. However, each financial institution has different procedures for opening an account. Some providers require that a parent or guardian sign the account opening form if the applicant is under 16 years of age. Other providers only require parental permission if the applicant is under 13 years of age.

To open an account for a child under 7 you will usually have to open it in the name of the adult, with child’s name noted. For children between 7 and 12 you will typically have three options – it can be: a) in the name of the adult, with child’s name noted, b) in the name of both the adult and the child, c) in the name of the child only. In all cases, the institution is required to comply with EU rules on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Credit unions in Ireland are regulated and supervised under the Credit Union Act, 1997 (the 1997 Act) and regulations issued by the Central Bank. The Act and regulations set out the services that credit unions may provide to their members which includes savings, loans, prescribed services and other additional services where approval has been given by the Central Bank.

Section 17 of the 1997 Act sets out the requirements of, and qualifications for, membership of a credit union. Section 17(5) states the following:

Subject to any provision to the contrary in the rules of a credit union, a person under the age of sixteen—

(a) may be a member of the credit union, and

(b) subject to subsection (6), may enjoy all the rights of membership, other than voting rights, and can give all necessary receipts.

All credit unions must have a set of registered rules which bind all members. The Irish League of Credit Unions provides a set of ‘standard rules’ which many credit unions adopt. Rule 14 of these standard rules states that “Where the member under age sixteen cannot give the necessary receipts, the signature of the parent or guardian, at the discretion of the board of directors, will be sufficient”.

Accordingly, in practice the signature of the parent or guardian may be used in certain circumstances.