John Dennehy
Question:815 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his proposals to use funds in dormant accounts in financial institutions for social purposes. [1051/02]
Written Answers. - Dormant Accounts Fund.
The main purpose of the Dormant Accounts Act, 2001 is to reunite account holders with their dormant funds in credit institutions. From April 2002, credit institutions will be obliged to make reasonable efforts to contact the owners of accounts that have been "dormant", that is, where there has been no customer initiated transactions on the account, for 15 years or more. If the owners of accounts which have been dormant for 15 years or more, have not come forward by the end of March 2003 to reclaim their moneys, the balances in the accounts will be transferred to a "Dormant Accounts Fund" to be established and managed by the National Management Treasury Agency. The transfer of moneys will take place on the basis that the beneficial owners of them will have a guaranteed right of reclaim to their property at any time in the future.
The Act also provides that I will appoint the members of the "Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursement Board", whose remit will be to oversee a scheme for disbursement of surplus dormant funds from April 2003. The purposes for which the surplus dormant funds will be disbursed are set out in section 41 of the Act. Broadly speaking, the projects or programmes to benefit will be those designed to assist the personal, educational and social development of persons who are economically, educationally or socially disadvantaged. The scheme will also be applied to programmes to assist people with a disability and to assist primary school students with learning difficulties.
The Act provides that, as soon as practicable after its establishment, the board will prepare a plan for disbursement of moneys from the fund. The plan will include the objectives of the board in making disbursements and what strategy the board has for achieving those objectives. As Minister, I also have power to issue directions and guidelines to the board concerning the preparation of the plan. Preliminary arrangements to establish the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursement Board are under way in my Department. I will ensure that the board is established in good time to begin the important work on the preparation of its plan for disbursement of surplus dormant moneys from April 2003.