Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
494. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 269 of 18 April 2023, the penalty for a business which refuses card payment; the legislation concerned; and the penalty for such an offence. [39113/23]
View answerThe regulations introduced by the National Transport Authority last year regarding requirements for cashless payment facilities, referred to in Parliamentary Question No. 269 of 18 April 2023, apply only to small public service vehicles and they do not have general application to all businesses. These regulations state that failure by a driver of a taxi to carry a functioning cashless payment device or to accept cashless payment can both be subject to a penalty of €200.
The general position for businesses is where a business places no restrictions on the means of payment it is prepared to accept, it must accept cash as legal tender when offered by a customer to settle a debt that has arisen. If a business specifies payment must be in a form other than cash, for example through a sign stating, “cash not accepted” or “card payment only” at the store entrance or check out area, the customer cannot subsequently claim a legal right to pay in cash. The converse also applies if a business only accepts cash and will not accept payment by card.
However, the Deputy should also be aware that the Department of Finance is preparing a new National Payments Strategy to be completed in 2024 as required by one of the recommendations in the Retail Banking Review, which was approved by Government and published in November 2022. One of the key objectives of the Strategy is to ensure “Access and Choice” in the form of promoting reasonable options for consumers and small business. A key component of the strategy is a payments roadmap which will examine trends and developments in digital payments (including card) and consider how best to achieve the overarching objective of access and choice in the payment methods used in Ireland, be it cash, card, etc.. I expect the Strategy to examine the issues involved holistically and make recommendations that will ensure that the payments system enables consumers to have access to all the necessary payment means needed to fully participate in society and the economy.
The Deputy should also be aware that on 28 June the European Commission put forward two proposals within a ‘single currency package’ to ensure that individuals and businesses can continue to access and pay with euro banknotes and coins across the euro area, and to set out a framework for a possible new digital form of the euro that the European Central Bank could choose to issue in the future, as a complement to cash.
