Pádraic McCormack
Ceist:28 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to investigate and regulate dormant bank accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Dormant Bank Accounts.
Jim Higgins
Ceist:31 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to investigate and regulate dormant bank accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:36 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance whether any estimate has been made of the amount of money unclaimed in banks and financial institutions; and the proposals, if any, he has on notifications, searches for owners and ultimate ownership of such moneys.
Pádraic McCormack
Ceist:42 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to investigate and regulate dormant bank accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Jim Higgins
Ceist:48 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to investigate and regulate dormant bank accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 31, 36, 42 and 48 together.
The question of dormant account is difficult and raises complex legal issues in regard to constitutional and property rights. For instance, Article 43 of the Constitution provides for the right to property, and the protection of that right. There is also the question of identifying legal ownership or entitlement to the funds involved. These and other issues are under discussion with the Attorney General.
Fundamental to any consideration of the issues is the need to identify the amount of money involved. At this point I am not in a position to give any estimation of the amounts that might be in question. Obviously, one factor here would be the time threshold for definition of a dormant account and there are a variety of opinions about this. I have recently asked the financial institutions to furnish aggregate statistics which will provide a basis for estimating amounts. I am satisfied that this information can be provided without breaching in any way the confidentiality obligations of the institutions. I am hopeful that the information can be obtained promptly.