Cathal Crowe
Question:135. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Finance when the National Payments Strategy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51367/23]
View answerThursday, 23 November 2023
Questions (135)
Written answers
I published the terms of reference, www.gov.ie/en/publication/4af00-national-payments-strategy-2024-terms-of-reference/ for the National Payment Strategy (NPS) on 27 June 2023. Since then a team in my Department has commenced this work. The Strategy will take account of the changing payment landscape and will consider ongoing legislative developments at EU level, including proposals on instant payments, payment services, legal tender and the Digital Euro. It will be underpinned by an extensive public consultation process including engagements with key stakeholders.
The NPS will examine and analyse fraud, which is a critical issue and something that was not considered at the time of the 2013 National Payments Plan. While EU legislation governs much of the payments area it is important that the NPS examines and analyses payment fraud to see if it can identify further domestic measures that could be taken to prevent fraud.
On access to cash, the NPS work will consider the likely evolution of cash usage and how the criteria for reasonable access to cash to be provided for in the Access to Cash legislation should evolve as cash usage changes in the future. The NPS work will look at the acceptance of cash and consider if legislation should be introduced to require certain sectors or sub-sectors to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash. It will also consider whether it should be the policy of the Government to require public service to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash.
On acceptance of cash, you will remember that I wrote to my Government colleagues on 20 September 2023 to request that public bodies within their aegis maintain acceptance of cash as a payment method, where it currently exits, until the NPS reports.
The NPS team is currently drafting the consultation paper following extensive research and consultation with key stakeholders (the Central Bank of Ireland, the European Commission, and other government departments etc.).
The consultation paper will be published in shortly on an interactive portal, it will be open for eight weeks and close in Q1 2024. My Department will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders on the consultation response and on the development of the Strategy.
The estimated publication for the Strategy itself is 2024.