Departmental Banking

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 November 2013

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Questions (303)

Ciaran Lynch

Question:

303. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the value of services provided to the public by his Department and entities reporting to his Department where a payment is accepted by debit or credit card; the percentage of additional charge that is applied to such transactions under the merchant agreement; the total value of the additional charge in respect of debit and credit cards in 2012; and if any portion of the additional charge accrued to his Department. [50137/13]

Written answers

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

The value of services provided by my Department to the public, in respect of which a charge is applied under a merchant agreement relating to the use of debit or credit cards, is as follows:

Office of DJEI	Value of services provided to the public by DJEI and entities reporting to DJEI, where a payment is accepted by debit or credit cards in 2012 €	% of charge applied to transactions under the merchant agreement	Total value of charge in 2012 €	Portion of charge accrued by D/JEI €
Companies Registration Office	1,127,431.50	2.7%	30,440.65	0
Patents Office	7,776,011.00	1.52% This represents an average figure due to the multiplicity of cards used	118,524.50	0

Charges applied to transactions under the merchant agreement are paid by my Department directly to the merchant services provider. They are borne by my Department and are not passed on to customers. Any payments accepted by debit or credit card by the Agencies under my remit are an operational matter for the Agencies concerned, for which I have no direct function.