Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 July 2013
809. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there has been any analysis of how much the dormant accounts fund would benefit in the event of the relevant legislation being extended to credit unions and the reason this sector remains outside that legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35170/13]
View answerMy Department has not carried out an analysis of the benefit of adding dormant Credit Union accounts to the Dormant Accounts Fund. In practical terms, increasing the amount available in the Fund does not necessarily allow for the introduction of new dormant accounts measures or programmes. While applying the provisions of the dormant accounts legislation to credit union accounts could increase the size of the Fund, Government Departments and agencies must source monies for dormant accounts programmes and measures from their Exchequer allocation in the same way as with any other funding programme. When the moneys expended on dormant accounts measures and programmes are reimbursed from the Dormant Accounts Fund, the refund is to the Exchequer rather than to the spending Department. For this reason, dormant accounts expenditure is subject to the same constraints within Departments as any other spending programme. In addition, expenditure on new dormant accounts measures or programmes would serve to increase Government debt levels as money disbursed from the Dormant Accounts Fund belongs to the account holder, who can reclaim it at any time, and not to the State. Consequently, every euro spent from the Fund is regarded in accounting terms as a potential Government liability.
