Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Finance the action he is taking to ensure that there will be widespread nationwide availability of ATMs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4250/24]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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150. To ask the Minister for Finance the regional criteria he intends to put in place for ATM provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4281/24]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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157. To ask the Minister for Finance the action he proposes to take to ensure that consumers retain access to cash; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4256/24]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 127, 138, 150 and 157 together.

The Department of Finance's Retail Banking Review, published in November 2022, highlighted the continuing importance of cash in ensuring that people do not experience financial exclusion, that consumers can budget efficiently, and that there is a safety net in the event of electronic banking or the payments infrastructure being impacted by outages or cyber-attacks. The Review concluded that there was a reasonable level of cash access in the State, but it noted that there was no framework to maintain reasonable access to cash into the future.

Arising from this recommendation, on the 23rd of January, I published the General Scheme of the Access to Cash Bill. This legislation will initially preserve the level of access to cash at December 2022 levels, excluding subsequent changes due to the exit of Ulster Bank and KBC. It will establish a framework to provide that any future evolution of the cash infrastructure will be managed in a fair, orderly, transparent, and equitable manner.

The legislation will allow me to prescribe regional requirements for the minimum numbers of ATMs per 100,000 people, the proportion of the population that must be no more than 10 km from an ATM, and the proportion of the population that must be no more than 10 km from a “cash service point”. Cash service points are locations where cash can be deposited and withdrawn, where in-person assistance is available, during normal business hours. Bank branches and post offices satisfy this definition.

The Bill will require entities, whose share of current accounts and household deposits exceed percentages I will prescribe, to be responsible for maintaining access to cash levels. The designated entities, as they will be known, will, initially, be the three main retail banks.

The regions for this Bill will be the regions under the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS3) classification, relied on by the European statistical agency Eurostat. There are eight NUTS3 regions in Ireland, namely: Border, West, Mid-West, South-East, South-West, Dublin, Mid-East, and the Midland region.

The Bill also provides for the remedying of “local deficiencies.” These are locations within a NUTS3 region where particular difficulties arise in accessing cash. The Central Bank will assess such cases and, where warranted, may require designated entities to address the issue. The Central Bank will prepare and publish guidance on local deficiencies prior to implementation of this provision.

The legislation provides for regular reviews of the access to cash criteria by the Central Bank following the publication of new Census data on population, or if cash demand drops by more than 15% in a calendar year compared to the previous calendar year.

A review must also be carried out if I request one, and the Central Bank may also carry out a review on its own initiative. The Central Bank must take account of cash demand, population changes, financial inclusion, operating costs related to the cash infrastructure, and any other matters the Bank deems relevant when preparing a review. I must have regard to the Central Bank review when amending the criteria by regulation.

As indicated above, the legislation requires that I have regard to the December 2022 levels of access to cash infrastructure when prescribing the initial criteria. When publishing the General Scheme, my Department also published supplementary information setting out the figures reported to my Department by the Central Bank for each region.

With regard to the percentage of the population with 10km of an ATM, the percentages were: 98.7% in the Border Region, 96.8% in the West, 98.7% in the Mid-West, 99.1% in the South-East, 98.5% in the South-West, 100% in Dublin, 100% in the Mid-East and 97.8% in the Midlands.

With regard to the numbers of ATMs per 100,000 people, the figures by region are: 95 in the Border, 91 in the West, 83 in the Mid-West, 77 in the South-East, 85 in the South-West, 79 in Dublin, 73 in the Mid-East and 75 in the Midlands. The above figures based on ATMs exclude some 43 limited ATMs which are in locations such as sports stadia or concert venues, which are only open for events.

With regard to the percentage of the population with 10km of a cash service point, the percentages were 99.4% in the Border Region, 99.2% in the West, 99.5% in the Mid-West, 99.5% in the South-East, 99.6% in the South-West, 100% in Dublin, 99.9% in the Mid-East and 99.8% in the Midlands.

The Review also called on Department officials 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.

Although ATM deployers are required to comply with various security requirements set by the Private Security Authority, the operation of ATMs is not currently regulated by the Central Bank. As a result, there are no codes or regulations governing service standards, including hours of operation, denomination stocking, outages and maximum repair times. Reporting is voluntary. There is also no requirements to give notice of decisions to close or install ATMs or indeed of a decision to exit the business or enter it. The Access to Cash Bill will address these matters.

The General Scheme incorporates all of these elements in one piece of legislation. In order to draft the General Scheme, the Department engaged with the Central Bank and key players in the cash system in order to 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.

Separately and also in response to a recommendation from the Retail Banking Review, my Department is preparing a new National Payments Strategy, which I expect to publish later this year. A key focus of the Strategy is to ensure Ireland has an accessible and innovative payment system as this is vital for our society and economy.

All citizens should be able to participate fully in all aspects of modern life using digital or cash methods of payment. While technology can enable vulnerable groups partake in society in new ways, it should not exclude them. I want to ensure choice is at the centre of our future payments strategy.

The Strategy is also specifically considering the issue of the acceptance of cash and whether the Minister for Finance should have the regulatory power to require critical sectors or sub-sectors to accept cash. The policy position on the acceptance of cash by public bodies is also being examined.

Finally, I launched a public consultation on the 12th of December last which closes on the 14th of February.