Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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140. To ask the Minister for Finance what he is doing to ensure that public bodies maintain their existing payment methods in relation to cash acceptance. [43178/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 116, 140 and 153 together.

Regarding Question 43131/23, I published the terms of reference for the National Payment Strategy (NPS) on 27 June 2023. Since then a team in my Department has commenced work on the project. The NPS will take account of the changing payment landscape and it will consider ongoing legislative developments at EU level, including proposals on instant payments, payment services, legal tender and the Digital Euro. The development of the NPS will be underpinned by a public consultation process including engagements with stakeholders.

The NPS team is currently drafting the consultation paper, following extensive research and consultation with key stakeholders (the Central Bank of Ireland, the European Commission, and other Government Departments etc.). The public consultation process will be published in Q4 2023, and will be open for eight weeks. The estimated publication for the NPS itself is in H2 2024.

Regarding question 43132/23, the NPS work will look at the acceptance of cash and consider if legislation should be introduced to require certain sectors or sub-sectors, to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash. It will also consider whether it should be the policy of the Government to require public service to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash.

In addition to the NPS work, on 28 June, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on Legal Tender which looks at both access to and acceptance of cash.

The proposal aims to ensure everyone within the Euro Area has sufficient access to cash. The proposal will make cash acceptance mandatory across the Euro Area. However, it also provides flexibility around mandatory acceptance in circumstances where there is a prior agreement in place between both parties regarding payment method, or if the refusal is made in good faith. The exceptions to mandatory acceptance are largely common practice in Ireland at the moment. The NPS will take account of this, and other developments at a European level.

Regarding question 43178/23, as the NPS is on-going I wrote to my Government colleagues on 20 September 2023 to request that public bodies within their aegis maintain acceptance of cash as a payment method, where it currently exists, until the NPS is finalised.