I am aware of the report to which the Deputy refers about sums of money lying unclaimed in life assurance companies in respect of matured policies for which no beneficiary can be found.
In relation to dormant bank accounts, the Deputy may recall from my response to his previous question on this issue, on 10 November last, that the formulation of policy proposals to tackling this issue is currently in hand in my Department. It will be necessary to consult with the banking and insurance industry and my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who has responsibility for the insurance sector. When these proposals have been finalised, I will be submitting a memorandum to Government.
I fully agree with the Deputy that banks, and indeed insurance companies, should make greater
efforts to trace the owners of unclaimed moneys. I understand that in the UK, banks and life assurance companies have themselves recently come up with proposals for a register of unclaimed policies and accounts to help beneficiaries track down such assets and I would like to see the industry doing the same here.
As to the situation in Ireland, I understand that banks, where they become aware of the death of a customer, endeavour to draw the attention of the next of kin to the existence of a bank account. I also understand that banks provide a service for the personal representatives of deceased persons, which enables the whole of the bank's network to be checked, to help them find any accounts in the name of the deceased person. Irish banks have also issued an information leaflet on dormant accounts which is available in all bank branches.
