I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 to 197, inclusive, together.
Under the Dormant Accounts legislation, balances on dormant accounts with banks, building societies and An Post and the net encashment value of certain life assurance policies are paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. The primary purpose of the legislation is to reunite the original account holders with their moneys, including all interest due. In addition, the legislation also provides that disbursements from the fund may be made for charitable purposes or for purposes of community benefit.
Since its establishment in April 2003 to the end of November 2013, the transfers to the Dormant Accounts Fund have totalled some €724.99m, which includes interest earned of approximately €40.23m. Funds reclaimed in that period by account holders amounted to around €271m. €278m of disbursements have been approved, with €251m already spent on projects designed to benefit the community over the same period. The current balance of uncommitted funds is €115.33m. Further data in relation to Dormant Accounts funding are available on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie.
The details requested are set out in the table.
Dormant Accounts Expenditure from 2008 to 2013*
Year
|
Inflows of expenditure
|
Reclaimed by account holders
|
Disbursed by NTMA
|
2008
|
€33,033,687
|
€19,500,791
|
€73,050,705
|
2009
|
€41,384,437
|
€19,051,956
|
€37,644,335
|
2010
|
€39,284,684
|
€20,302,633
|
€20,267,035
|
2011
|
€43,079,787
|
€24,345,430
|
€8,403,338
|
2012
|
€43,354,219
|
€22,022,290
|
€4,159,969
|
* The data for 2013 has not been finalised by the NTMA.