Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 April 2014
42. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Finance his views regarding the fact that a number of financial institutions namely EBS, AIB and BOI are freezing customers' accounts and counting them as dormant when there are no withdrawals taking place even though a number of citizens have been using those accounts to make regular lodgements as a savings account; and if this practice is lawful in view of the upset it has caused to a number of customers. [17082/14]
View answerThe relevant institutions have provided me with the following details regarding classifying accounts as dormant, however if the Deputy wishes to forward some further specific information about problems that she is aware of, I would be happy to investigate the matter further.
AIB including EBS
AIB is committed to reuniting customers with their lost or forgotten accounts (also known as dormant accounts). The bank can confirm that an account is designated as being a dormant account where on the 30 September there has been no customer initiated transactions in the previous 15 years. The account holder has until the 31 March of the following year to reactivate the account by contacting AIB and carrying out a transaction on the account. After the 31 March the funds are transferred to the Dormant Accounts Fund.
Under the Dormant Accounts Act, 2001, the money held in designated dormant accounts is then transferred to a Fund administered by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) which will manage the funds on behalf of the State. The Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board will distribute the funds to programmes designed to assist the personal, educational and social development of people who are economically, educationally or socially disadvantaged; to people with a disability; and to projects that are designed to assist primary school students with learning disabilities.
The transfer to the fund does not affect the rights of the original account holder (or their heirs) and they can reclaim their funds at any time by contacting AIB.
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland operates all customer accounts in compliance with their Terms & Conditions and provisions of relevant legislation / regulation.
Dormant Accounts are only deemed to be Dormant where no customer initiated transaction has taken place for 15 years and the funds have been transferred to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). Accounts that have not had a customer initiated transaction for a period from 3 to 15 years are defined as "Inactive Accounts". Accounts in this category are re-activated once the account-holder has confirmed his/her identity.
