Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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72. To ask the Minister for Finance if he or his Department has met with officials from the GAA to discuss the cashless ticket system (details supplied). [11113/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to thank Deputy Tóibín for his question regarding the cashless ticket system in place for the purchase of tickets for GAA matches and events.

I can confirm that no meetings have taken place between me, in my role as Minister for Finance, or my Department officials and officials from the GAA regarding the issue raised.

The details supplied referenced the contract that the GAA currently has in place with Ticketmaster regarding the purchasing of paperless tickets. I have no role in relation to contracts between non-State entities in general, including the contact between these two entities. Legislation affecting contracts, such as the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 or the Consumer Protection Act 2007, is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

While I understand the problems emerged for customers purchasing tickets via Ticketmaster due to technical difficulties, it should be noted that customers have the option to purchase paper tickets from their local retail stores such as SuperValu and Centra.

I also understand that there is a broader concern about the ability to access and use cash in our wider society.

In recent years we have 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.

The Retail Banking Review which was published in November 2022 contained a number of recommendations regarding access to cash. One recommendation was for the Department of Finance to develop Access to Cash legislation and prepare heads of a bill in 2023. Work is now underway by officials in my Department on these heads of bill, which will also address the supervision of ATM operators and the supervision of cash-in-transit firms in respect of their cash handling activities and related financial services.

The Review also recommended that the Department of Finance lead on a National Payments Strategy (NPS) in 2024 to set out a roadmap for the future evolution of the entire payments system. The Review specifically recommended that the NPS should consider whether there should be legislation in relation to the acceptance of cash by certain classes of firms, sectors or sub-sectors and whether it should be Government policy that public bodies should accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash for the payment of goods, services, taxes, levies, fees or charges.