‘Access to Cash’ measures a boost for businesses and communities in Cork

The introduction of new measures will ensure businesses and communities have guaranteed and sustained access to cash across the State,  Fine Gael Td John Paul O’Shea has said.

Deputy O’Shea said the measures, under the Access to Cash legislation, are designed to give people certainty that they will have reliable access to cash withdrawal and deposit services, regardless of their geographic location.

This week, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris signed the orders setting out the criteria that will underpin the new laws.

They state that the vast majority of the population must be within 10km of an ATM or cash service point.

Welcoming the measures, Deputy O’Shea said: “Access to cash is crucial for businesses and communities across our constituency.

“These new measures being introduced by the Tánaiste are about giving people certainty that they will continue to able to avail of cash and deposit services through their local ATM into the future. 

“We all know that the world is changing in terms of digitalisation and services moving online.

“However, there is still a real need for people and businesses to be able to access cash close to where they live or operate from.

“This is about sending a message to both urban and rural Ireland that Fine Gael is backing businesses and backing communities.”

Note to Editor

• The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 was signed into law in May.

• Its objectives are:

• To ensure sufficient and effective access to cash in the State.

• To put in place a framework to manage future changes to the cash infrastructure in a fair, orderly, equitable and transparent manner and;

• To bring cash-in-transit providers (CITs) and independent ATM deployers within the regulatory perimeter of the CBI.

• On Monday September 24th , Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris signed an order that sets out the criteria for the access to cash framework to function properly.

• This followed a consultation between the Department of Finance and the Central Bank.

• The access to cash criteria sets out, in specific regions.

• The minimum percentage of population that ought to be within a radius of 10 kilometres of an ATM/cash service point.

• The minimum number of ATMs that ought to be available per 100,000.

ENDS//