Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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63. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to legislate to ban digital-only payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2141/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, there has been a significant increase in the use of electronic, or digital, payments in recent years, and more specifically over the course of the last year. 

Notwithstanding the significant increase in the take-up of electronic payments, cash remains a vital part of the Irish payment system. An Indecon report commissioned by my Department in 2019 concluded that a fully cashless society would not be an appropriate objective for policy makers. The Report is available at the following link,

If a retailer specifies in advance of a transaction, for example by displaying signs at the till or at the store entrance, that it will only accept payment by a means other than cash, it is not legally obliged to accept cash as the means of payment and can request the use of an alternative instrument such as a credit or debit card.

My Department supports the work of the European Commission in this area. In September 2020, as part of the EU Digital Finance Package, the European Commission published the Retail Payments Strategy. One of the key aims of the strategy is to maintain access to and acceptance of cash across EU Member States. The strategy recognises the importance of ensuring that there is continued access to cash and that the increased use of digital payment methods does not lead to financial exclusion.