I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, to delete lines 16 to 25 and substitute the following: “in respect of each NUTS 3 region— (i) shall, by order, specify— (I) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kilometres of an ATM accessible 24 hours, (II) the minimum number of ATMs that ought to be available per 100,000 people in the region concerned, (III) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kilometres of a cash service point, and (IV) the minimum percentage of ATM that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairment and other forms of disabilities,”. Deputy Daly referred to issues relating to access to cash and comparisons with what is happening in neighbouring jurisdictions. Amendment No. 4 would reduce the criteria that would be used here from 10 km to 5 km. It would also ensure access would be for 24 hours rather than on a shopping or business hours basis. Since we looked at this in pre-legislative scrutiny, we had the recent Storm Éowyn, which brought reality home for many people regarding the nature of digital services. We saw many communities left without power for quite a period. For weeks after the storm in some areas, cash again become king, since it was the only means of payment. It is a reminder of the importance of an underlying paper-based system, no matter how convenient digital systems are. Our amendment to this enabling legislation aims to tighten up the criteria to a degree. We want it to be looked at on a basis of up to 5 km instead of up to 10 km. That is basically to ensure that a certain proportion of the population should have access to cash up to 5 km. The Government is proposing that it be up to 10 km. This is in line with the recommendation of the finance committee when it looked at this in pre-legislative scrutiny. A 10 km round trip to an ATM is not reasonable. We also seek to add into the definition the idea that the ATM needs to have 24-hour access. This is a key metric in assessing the availability for cash. As I said, it is handy if there are ATMs in shops and so on but if the shutters are down at 6 o'clock in the evening, access to cash is needed thereafter. Even though there is an ATM, if it is not available in those periods, then it is not available. We need to have a metric which looks at what ATMs are available on a 24-hour basis. In Britain, 99.3% of Britain's urban population are currently within 1 mile of a free-to-use cash access point offering withdrawals and 98.6% of Britain's rural population are currently within 3 miles of free-to-use cash access points offering withdrawals. That puts into clear perspective that looking at this with distances larger than 5 km will not really give us the information we need to ensure we have a reasonable level of access to cash. The last point of the amendment relates to accessibility for people with visual impairment and other disabilities. The standards must be led and assessed by people who are affected. I know there was great frustration from many organisations across the State, such as Voice of Vision Impairment, VVI, which represents people with visual impairment, when banks rolled out accessible ATMs without engaging with them. This has to be more than a box-ticking exercise and the best way to make it happen is to make sure that the Central Bank and the regulator have the oversight role to hold banks to account. Amendment No. 5 deals with the issue of cearta teanga. Moltar leis go mbeadh cearta ag daoine a gcuid gnó a dhéanamh ag an ATM nó UMB i nGaeilge. Agus muid ag plé rochtain ar airgead tirim ó UMBanna, caithfear labhairt freisin faoin rochtain atá ag pobal labhartha ár dteanga náisiúnta ar airgead ó UMBanna. Tá cearta teanga i gceist leis an leasú seo. Ba chóir go ndéanfadh dul chun cinn sa teicneolaíocht ár saol níos éasca dúinn go léir, Gaeilgeoirí san áireamh. Tá sé níos fusa anois ná riamh seirbhísí a sholáthar trí Ghaeilge i suímh nach bhfuil gá le daoine le scileanna i dteangacha éagsúla a fhostú chun freastal ar phobail éagsúla. Ní gá ach inneall féinfhreastal ar nós UMB a chlárú chun an tseirbhís chéanna a sholáthar i réimse teangacha agus an rogha fágtha ag daoine. Sna blianta thart, rinneadh iarrachtaí chun a chinntiú go ndearna na meaisín seo freastal ar Ghaeilgeoirí ach, leis na blianta beaga anuas, tá meath sonraithe againn ar an dul chun cinn seo. Áit a raibh UMBanna de chuid Bhanc na hÉireann ag soláthar rogha Gaeilge agus a raibh seirbhísí fisiciúla ar fáil do chustaiméirí ar Ghaeilgeoirí iad, go háirithe i gceantair Ghaeltachta, feictear anois brainsí áitiúla ag dúnadh agus Béarla amháin ag na UMBanna. Mar sin, tá Sinn Féin ag moladh gur chóir go mbeadh rogha Gaeilge ar chomhchaighdeán leis an mBéarla ar gach UMB agus, má tá teanga réamhshocraithe mar rogha uathoibríoch ar an phríomhleathanach, go mbeadh an Ghaeilge mar an default agus deis ann teanga eile a roghnú. Is í an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an phointe deireanach seo ná go spreagfaidh úsáid na Gaeilge, más féidir de réir prionsabal na tairisceana gníomhaí, deis dul i dtaithí leis an teanga. Agus é sin ráite, glacann Sinn Féin leis gur chóir go mbeadh an rogha iompú ar an Bhéarla dóibh siúd atá á lorg agus roghanna eile teanga freisin. Chun costais a choimeád íseal do ghnólachtaí, cinntíonn an leasú seo nach mbeadh feidhm ag an riail nua seachas i gcás meaisín nua nó uasdátaithe tar éis don Acht seo a theacht i bhfeidhm. The second amendment is about language rights. It is about the rights of Irish speakers, the rights of people in the Gaeltacht and the right to be able to withdraw your cash in Irish. In the case where there are multiple languages, we are saying that all ATMs should have the Irish language available. Where there are multiple languages, the main, default page should be in Irish, with an option to turn to English or indeed any other language. Given technology today, this is not impossible or costly. We are not asking for all these ATMs to be changed overnight. We are saying that where there is a new ATM or an upgrade in the software of the ATM, this would have to apply. That makes a lot of sense for all the parties here which talk about the restoration of our national language being a priority for all of us. This is one wee step which does not cost us anything but gives us an opportunity at a time when we are withdrawing cash to remind us that Irish is our national language.

Sentiment score: 0.04

I have moved amendment No. 4.

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Agreed.

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Tá.

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Thank you. Just for clarification, the Ceann Comhairle declared the question carried. So the amendment has been carried?

Sentiment score: 0.12

I thought it was carried.

Sentiment score: 0.00

Are we sure it was lost?

Sentiment score: 0.00

You know something, I should not have raised anything at all.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I move amendment No. 5: In page 12, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(7) In the case of any new ATM which enters operation following the commencement of this Act, or any existing ATM in operation whose operating software is updated following commencement of this Act— (a) the option of a full service of equal quality shall be made available to consumers in at least both official languages, with the Irish language option given no less prominence than any other language option, and (b) where one language option serves as the default home screen option on an ATM, this default shall be the first official language.”.

Sentiment score: -0.30

I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “Report on the acceptance of cash within the Irish economy and to set out a legislative approach to ensuring the broad obligation to accept cash into the future 7. The Minister shall, in recognition of the interrelationship between access to cash and acceptance of cash will within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann report the acceptance of cash within the Irish economy and to set out a legislative approach to ensuring the broad obligation to accept cash into the future.”. This amendment would insert a new section into this legislation. It asks the Central Bank of Ireland to collect and publish data on cash infrastructure. It calls for a report on the acceptance of cash and on how we ensure, legally, that the broad acceptance of cash would take effect in our State, or where it is at a point in time. Without legal protection to ensure acceptance of cash, all this Bill will achieve is the managed decline of cash because we see areas where cash is not accepted. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but cash is only good if you can use it. Euro banknotes and coins are legal tender in the euro area, with cash being the only form of Central Bank money to which everyone can have direct access to currently. This means that all other money is created by the creation of debt, the vast majority by the private banking sector or system. We need a digital euro to give us a public form of digital money, but until this happens, we only have cash. This issue goes from the ground level, where people want the right to use their cash in their local shops or when they go to watch their local football team, all the way to the core of our economic and monetary system. We cannot and should not give up on cash. For many people, cash helps them to track their expenses. It is not required that they be literate or even computer literate to use cash. It ensures their freedom and autonomy. Banknotes and coins are the only form of money people can keep without involving a third party. They do not need access to equipment, access to the Internet or even electricity to pay with cash, which means it can be used even when the power is down or they lose their card. The EU Commission recommendation from 2010 sought to clarify the definition of legal tender as set out in EU treaties. That recommendation clarified legal tender. It implied mandatory acceptance, but that was never reflected in Irish law or in the State's approach to cash. In June 2023, the European Commission adopted a draft regulation seeking to give force to that recommendation. The European Commission's proposal requires that euro cash acceptance should be mandatory across the euro area. We should not have to wait for the EU to tell us that this is what we have to do. We can and should take the necessary steps to protect the use of cash. If that is not done, as I said, there is no point having access to cash if where people want to spend that cash, or the businesses or entities in which they want to use it, will not accept it.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I move amendment No. 7: In page 18, to delete lines 23 to 35 and substitute the following: “(2) The Minister shall, following consultation with the Bank, make regulations to prohibit the charging of an access fee where the withdrawal concerned is from a relevant account.”. This is a simple amendment. The legislation states that the Minister may, following regulations, prohibit the charging of ATM access fees or a set-up cap of such ATM access fees. Access fees for withdrawing cash from a relevant account should not be allowed. The amendment is in keeping with that view. I ask the Minister of State to outline where access fees are being charged currently and if they are being charged for withdrawals from a relevant account. If access fees are not being charged currently, why would the Minister of State not agree to an amendment ensuring access fees are not charged in the future?

Sentiment score: -0.05