The Dormant Accounts Bill, 2001 was introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Finance on 23 May 2001. The Bill was passed by Dáil Éireann on Friday last and I look forward to its passage through the Seanad and its early enactment.
The core objective of the legislation is to put account holders or their heirs or successors in touch with their dormant accounts in financial institutions. The scheme provided for will commence next April and will oblige banks, building societies and the post office to make contact with all customers whose accounts have become "dormant", i.e. where there has been no customer initiated transactions on the account for 15 years or more.
If the owners of accounts which have been dormant for 15 years or more, as at 31 March 2002, have not come forward by the end of March 2003 to reclaim their moneys, the balances in the accounts will be transferred to a "Dormant Accounts Fund" to be established and managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. The transfer of moneys will take place on the basis that the beneficial owners of them will have a guaranteed right of reclaim to their property at any time.