Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

225. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will honour the Government's commitment to introduce legislation to protect consumers' and businesses' access to cash; the steps he has taken to advance the drafting of this legislation; the timeline he is working towards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3334/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In recent years, the banking landscape has changed significantly in Ireland. The number of banks serving the sector reduced from 12 to 3 as banks were amalgamated or closed down and foreign owned entrants exited the Irish retail market. We have also seen a considerable acceleration in technological developments and the pace of uptake has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With that has come a decline in cash usage. Since 2015 the number of ATM transactions declined by 46%. Card payments accounted for 62.4% of the total number of payment transactions in 2021.

Despite this decline, cash remains an important element of the payments system and the broader economy.

In light of this changing landscape, in 2021 my predecessor, Paschal Donohoe, as Minister for Finance commissioned this Department to undertake a broad-ranging review of the retail banking sector.

The Retail Banking Review, published in November 2022, contained a number of recommendations. One recommendation was for the Department of Finance to develop Access to Cash legislation and prepare heads of a bill in 2023.

The Review also called on Department officials to prepare heads of a bill in 2023 to require ATM operators to be authorised and supervised by the Central Bank and to provide the Central Bank with responsibility and powers to protect the resilience of the cash system including the authorisation and supervision of cash-in-transit firms in respect of their cash handling activities and related financial services.

It is my intention to fully honour this commitment and this work is now underway by officials in my Department.

Following consultation with the Central Bank and other stakeholders, the Department will establish what the appropriate levels of access to cash are to ensure that any further evolution of the cash infrastructure will be managed in a fair, orderly, transparent and equitable manner for all stakeholders.

The Retail Banking Review recommended that the heads of a bill be drafted in 2023 and this is the timeline the Department is working to. It is intended that one piece of legislation will be drafted for all three recommendations on access to cash.