Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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335. To ask the Minister for Finance for an update on the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024; and whether he will consider expanding the role of post offices in the implementation of this legislation. [25507/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024 completed passage through the Seanad on 13 May 2025. As the Bill passed all stages in both Houses of the Oireachtas, it has been sent to Uachtarán na hÉireann to be signed into law. Once the Bill is enacted, attention will turn to commencing the legislation and the making of necessary regulations.

I am informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that, as of 2023, there were approximately 900 An Post branches in the State that provide lodgement and withdrawal services. These branches satisfy the definition of a "cash service point" in the Bill - locations where cash can be deposited and withdrawn, with in-person assistance available, during normal business hours. Bank branches offering a cash service also satisfy this definition. The purpose of a Cash Service Point is, primarily, to ensure the function of cash lodgement, but they also fulfil a critical secondary importance of facilitating ‘assisted cash’. This is for people who, due to whatever reason, including disability, cannot use ATMs by themselves.

The legislation provides the Minister for Finance with the ability to establish, in regulations, the criteria for sufficient and effective access to cash in each of the eight NUTS3 regions in Ireland, in relation to ATMs and cash service points. Accordingly, once these regulations have been put in place, post offices will play an important role in ensuring sufficient and effective access to cash in the State.

It is of course important that An Post has an appropriate branch network to deliver on its core functions. These include the provision of postal services, the distribution of social welfare payments from the Department of Social Protection in cash, and the financial services it offers - including State Savings. Responsibility for An Post is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media & Sport, and Government as a whole.