Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:25 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the steps being taken by the banks to deal with dormant accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5408/99]
Written Answers. - Dormant Accounts.
At present, there is no statutory requirement on banks setting out the steps that they must take to trace the owners of funds in dormant bank accounts. In fact, at present there is no definition in law as to what constitutes a dormant account. It is generally taken to refer to accounts which have been inactive on the part of the holder of the account for a lengthy period of time, but no specific period has been specified. It would be a matter for individual banks to say what steps they take to trace the owners of such accounts. I am advised that auditors send out statements on a random selection of accounts during the course of each audit and that external auditors send out statements to a selection of holders of dormant accounts annually.
The Deputy will be aware from my reply to previous parliamentary questions that I have asked my officials to draw up policy proposals to deal with dormant accounts. There are a number of complex legal and constitutional issues which must be addressed in developing such a policy. These relate in particular to property rights.
Work on the dormant accounts issue is being actively pursued in my Department at present. I would hope to be in a position to submit a policy proposal to Government in this matter in the near future.