I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, to delete lines 13 to 21 and substitute the following: “ “credit institution” means any of the following that provides, or offers to provide, current accounts in the State: (a) the holder of a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971; (b) the holder of an authorisation under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971; (c) a credit institution authorised and supervised by the competent authority of another Member State that carries on business in the State, by way of the establishment of a branch in the State, in accordance with the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 158 of 2014); (d) a credit union registered as such under the Credit Union Act 1997;”. The amendments in this group relate to the definitions in section 2. Amendment No. 1 changes the definition of a "credit institution" to insert a reference to the establishment of a branch for "credit institution[s] authorised and supervised by the competent authority of another Member State". This has been proposed for technical reasons to ensure such credit institutions report statistical information to the Central Bank in respect of their operations in Ireland. Amendment No. 2 changes the definition of "current account" to refer to the lodgment and withdrawal of "funds", as the definition of "current account" in the Bill refers to the ability to deposit and withdraw cash. Some current accounts, such as those from Revolut and other online banks, do not offer a direct cash lodgment facility. Therefore, these accounts would not satisfy the definition as currently worded. While none of the online-only banks currently meet the quantitative criteria of the designated entities, there was never any intention to exclude them, and doing so would be likely to lead to further legal challenges on state aid and competition grounds. In addition, failure to address this issue could leave the legislation open to gaming. For instance, a designated entity could decide to no longer facilitate the depositing of cash in new current accounts. It has always been the policy intention that online current account providers would become designated entities if they satisfied the criteria regarding the shares of the current accounts and household deposits. Amendment No. 3 is largely technical in nature and inserts a new definition of "funds" to ensure the proper functioning of the updated definition of "current account" in amendment No. 2. This definition of "funds" is as set out in EU Directive 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015, or the payment services directive. As part of this amendment, section 4 is proposed to be deleted, as the provisions of that section are no longer needed after the addition of a new section 48, which I will propose and discuss with amendment No. 8.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following: “(a) deposit or receive funds, (b) withdraw or transfer funds, and”.
Sentiment score: -0.15
I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following definition: “ “funds” has the same meaning as it has in Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market;”.
Sentiment score: -0.15
Amendment No. 4 proposes to change the required distance for the percentage of the population to be 5 km from an ATM or cash service point. It also proposes to add the criteria of a minimum percentage of ATMs that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairments and other forms of disabilities. Section 6 of the Bill sets out population criteria that will require a specified percentage of the population in a specified region to be within a set radius of not less than 5 km and not more than 10 km of an ATM. The minimum distance of 5 km was added in response to the finance committee's recommendation. A minimum distance of 5 km, a maximum distance of 10 km, minimum ATM numbers per 100,000 people and a local deficiency framework were deemed the most optimal approach to maintain access to cash in the State. A distance of 5 km was considered on the basis of the committee's recommendation. This found that a 5 km criterion would be disproportionately restrictive as the population percentages would still be based on the December 2022 coverage levels and travel and geographic factors would inhibit attempts to remedy it. The preference is therefore to set the distance criterion to 10 km in the first instance, which represents approximately 99% of the population being covered. A 10 km distance, coupled with the local deficiency process, will provide an initial indication of the number of ATMs and cash service points necessary to provide sufficient and effective access to cash. The local deficiencies process complements the 10 km criterion by providing a framework to address any deficiencies in the ATM coverage. Local deficiency is the term in the legislation for locations in the NUTS 3 region where particular difficulties arise in accessing cash, even if the access to cash criteria for that region are being complied with. It is possible that changes in the ATM locations, branch closures or independently-made changes in the An Post network could give rise to localised difficulties in accessing cash, even where the criteria for the relevant NUTS 3 region are still being complied with. In these cases, the local deficiency provisions of the Bill will come into effect. A person can notify the Central Bank of Ireland of local deficiencies or potential local deficiencies. The Central Bank will assess submissions and determine whether there is a deficiency that warrants a remedy. If so, the Central Bank of Ireland will notify the designated entities, which will have at least one month or up to eight weeks to present proposals to the bank to address the breach. Where the Central Bank of Ireland is satisfied that the remedy is adequate, the designated entities will implement it. Where the Central Bank of Ireland is not satisfied that the remedy is adequate, it will have the power to issue a draft direction setting out measures to be taken by a specified deadline to one or more designated entities to remedy the deficiency. Relevant designated entities may provide observations on the draft direction within two weeks and the Central Bank of Ireland may amend or affirm the direction. Where designated entities do not comply with the direction, the bank may implement its sanction procedure. Prior to the implementation of the local deficiencies framework, the Central Bank of Ireland is required to produce guidance on the assessment and classification of local deficiencies and when a remedy is appropriate and proportionate. The guidance must be prepared within 12 months of the commencement of the Act. It will also detail the steps the public can take to begin the process of having a local deficiency assessed. Following commencement of the legislation and once the Central Bank has gathered the necessary information, the Central Bank will review how the criteria operate in practice to see if the 10 km maximum distance for ATMs and cash service points, coupled with minimum ATM numbers per hundred thousand and the local deficiencies process, provide sufficient and effective access to cash. The distance can be adjusted in future if, following data collection and review by the Central Bank, doing so would serve a useful purpose. Accessibility is governed by the European Union (Accessibility Requirements of Products and Services) Regulation 2023, SI 636 of 2023, which transposed the requirements of the European Accessibility Act into Irish law. This includes requirements that the ATM contains features, elements and functions that allow persons with disabilities to access, perceive, operate, understand and control them. SI 636 of 2023 addresses accessibility issues raised by the committee in the pre-legislative scrutiny report. The implementation of this legislation is the responsibility of the Minister for children, disability and equality. Monitoring and compliance of the ATM accessibility requirements will lie with the Central Bank of Ireland. ATMs installed after 28 June 2025 must comply with the regulatory requirements. ATMs in use before that date may continue to be used until the end of their economically useful lives or no longer than 20 years after they entered into use. Accordingly, it is not proposed to accept this amendment.
Sentiment score: 0.02
Not agreed.
Sentiment score: -0.21
Níl.
Sentiment score: 0.00
There is an old saying, "Cash is king." I agree with that. It is very important that cash is facilitated. As a postmaster myself, I fully appreciate what Deputy Conway-Walsh said about the good work the post office network did in making sure people's pensions and unemployment benefit were paid out, even though these were not on the system, so to speak, and manually did it to make sure cash was in circulation. One thing I always say is the best way to make sure these services are preserved into the future is for people to use them. I often give my own experience as an example. When I was working at the post office in my home village ten or 15 years ago, we made 200 payments on average on Fridays. Now we pay out 40% of that figure. That is not because the population of the village is declining. The simple reality is that people are taking the option to get payments paid into their bank accounts. That is their entitlement; I am not saying it is not. People are moving away from cash. The reason we have this legislation in place is to protect the infrastructure based on the 2022 levels. The fact of the matter is many people are using cash less and less frequently. With regard to the point about cash acceptance made by Deputy Doherty, the European Commission published a proposal for the regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins in June 2023. The proposal would provide for mandatory acceptance of cash in the euro area, with some exceptions. European Council working party meetings on the proposal are under way and progress is being made towards gaining agreement on a general approach. The proposal included a requirement that member states prepare and submit an annual report on the acceptance of cash. In October 2024, the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Jack Chambers, launched a national payment strategy at the Central Bank of Ireland's offices and published the national payment strategy on the Department's website. The national payment strategy contains 16 further outcome recommendations in areas such as cash, resilience of payments, payment fraud, account-to-account payments and data collection initiatives. With regard to cash acceptance, the national payments framework recommends cash acceptance or cash facilitation in the public sector where a public body levies fines or fees or provides goods or services for a charge. The national payment strategy proposes that all Government Departments and bodies under their aegis accept a range of electronic and non-electronic payments, including cash. If a body cannot accept cash directly, it must arrange immediately for the facilitation of cash payments through a third party. In November 2024, the Secretary General of the Department of Finance wrote to all other Secretaries General notifying them of this requirement and that any future contracts to be agreed between Government Departments, and bodies under their aegis, with third parties that involve seeking payment from the public must also include a cash acceptance or facilitation element. Government Departments and bodies under their aegis will be required to confirm, via their annual reports, that they are in compliance with the recommendation, further supporting the need for oversight and review. Future outcome 3.3 of the national payment strategy sets out that there will be a comprehensive overview of the national cash cycle environment that will inform policy thinking and formation related to cash and payments. Accepting this amendment would therefore represent a duplication of effort.
Sentiment score: 0.28
Access fees are a charge, usually a flat-rate fee irrespective of the amount being withdrawn, levied by an ATM operator to use a specific ATM. Most of us pay bank fees and charges to our current account providers. However, customers of Irish banks and payment service providers have not been subject to what are known as domestic access fees or ATM access fees. Access fees have not been charged for domestic withdrawals in Ireland to date due to Visa and Mastercard rules. However, visitors, including those from EU countries, are generally subject to such fees when using non-ATMs. Likewise, Irish account holders often have to pay access fees when using ATMs abroad. The status quo is dependent on Visa and Mastercard policies. These entities may change their rules to permit such fees in the future. Consequently, the Bill provides the Minister for Finance the power to make regulations to prohibit or cap access fees should they become a barrier to financial inclusion. However, the clear legal advice was the cap or ban must apply to all cards issued in EU countries. Therefore, if the amendment were accepted and access fees banned, revenue from access fees charged to EU visitors by ATM deployers would be lost. This would harm the commercial viability of certain ATMs, particularly those in areas with high tourist traffic, and could lead to their removal in more rural areas where such revenue is necessary for the viability of the ATM in question. While compliance by the designated entities with the access to cash criteria should mean new ATMs are installed, there is no guarantee they would be at the same location and this would be disruptive for communities. The introduction of an immediate prohibition on access fees would also place an increased burden on designated entities. It is for this reason the current wording of the section allows the Minister for Finance to either cap or ban access fees, as appropriate, rather than compelling such an intervention. It means the Minister for Finance can act in the future if access fees were to be introduced and impair access to cash, affordability and be harmful to financial inclusion.
Sentiment score: -0.16
I move amendment No. 8: In page 40, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following new section: “Amendment of section 61G of Act of 1942 48. Section 61G(1) of the Act of 1942 is amended— (a) by the substitution of “a designated enactment, a designated statutory instrument or the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 (in so far as that Act is not a designated enactment)” for “a designated enactment or designated statutory instrument”, and (b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b): “(b) in the case of a body corporate— (i) by leaving the notice or other document at, or (ii) by sending it by prepaid post to, the head office, a registered office or a principal office of the body corporate, or”.”. This amendment concerns the serving of notices as part of the regulatory framework introduced in the Bill. Under the existing section 4 of the Bill, a notice, notification, direction or other document may be served on the recipient in person or in hard copy by delivery. It does not provide for the serving of notices by electronic means. This amendment is required to ensure that notices under the Bill may be served by electronic means to cash-in-transit providers and ATM operators who will fall under the regulatory framework introduced in the Bill. The proposed amendment addresses this by amending section 61G of the Central Bank Act 1942 to specifically reference the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill once enacted. Naming this Bill in section 61G(1) of the Central Bank Act 1942 adds it to the list of designated enactments and designated statutory instruments to which section 61G of the Central Bank Act 1942 applies. This change will allow notice under this Bill to be served electronically. Service of notices electronically under the 1942 Act is allowed for under SI 177 of 2023. The inclusion of the Bill in section 61G removes the need for a specific section in the Bill on the giving of notices and hence section 4 of the Bill will be deleted.
Sentiment score: 0.05