The Government is to impose requirements on ATM providers, banks and financial institutions to ensure that there is a "reasonable access to cash" across the country in order to avoid what's termed "financial exclusion."
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said the number of ATMs should, at the very least, remain the same.
"It should certainly be no less than what we have now. And that's a bottom line in respect of the availability. What's available now certainly should not be allowed to diminish," he said speaking in Dublin.
The Minister said, as it currently stands, ATM services are not regulated, and he added: "That needs to be addressed."
Launching a National Payments Strategy, Minister McGrath said there is a need to determine how far it is reasonable to travel to access an ATM service; what is the level of service customers can reasonably expect regarding maintenance, and the denomination of notes which should be provided.
He said the Central Bank will be given "enabling powers" to ensure those who operate and run ATMs are the subject of an appropriate level of regulation - including level of customer service.
The Minister warned that there would be "difficult choices" to be made.
Asked if there could be regional opt-outs, he replied: "I don't think we can have significant carve-outs for businesses, based on geographical location, because those would be the very locations where people are most at risk of financial exclusion."
The Minister and Cork South Central deputy said digital-only payments were likely to accelerate in the coming years, but the Government wanted to ensure there was an "... appropriate and adequate level of access to cash across our country, as it will continue to play a very important part in the functioning of our society."
He said he would hope to have an outline of the proposed legislation ready in the New Year.
The implementation of the plan, he said, would be "kept under review."
Minister McGrath is seeking the public's views on a future National Payments Strategy (NPS) for Ireland as he launches a public consultation.
"The public consultation exercise affords interested groups and members of the public to have their say on the future of our payments system, and I would like to hear as many voices as possible," he added.
The consultation is now open for submissions until 14 February 2024.
The last national policy in this area was set out in the National Payments Plan (NPP) in 2013 and, since this time, the payments landscape has changed significantly in Ireland.
The Minister said a key element of the work will be to examine and analyse fraud, which is a critical issue and something that was not considered at the time of the NPP ten years ago.
He said that while much of this area is governed by EU legislation, it is important that the NPS examines and analyses payment fraud to see if further domestic measures can be identified to prevent fraud.
Within the payment roadmap, the NPS will also look at crypto-assets, instant payments, open banking, and what new data needs to be collected on the payments landscape.
Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) have welcomed the launch of the public consultation on the NPS.
"Since the National Payments Plan (NPP) was established over ten years ago, the payments landscape in Ireland, as well as globally, has changed significantly with rapidly evolving developments across digital payments, instant payments, payments fraud, data collection and sharing and open banking as well use of and access to cash," said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive of BPFI.
"BPFI and our members look forward to engaging in the NPS consultation process with the Department of Finance to ensure that consumer choice and confidence remain at the centre of the evolution of payments in the years ahead," he added.
More information can be read here.
