McGrath tells public bodies to still accept cash as payment

All public bodies are to be told by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath that they must accept cash when consumers are paying for services.

The Irish Independent have reported that McGrath has written to ministerial colleagues asking them to ensure public bodies under their remit continue to accept cash.

The move follows a backtrack from the NCT service that they would stop their planned rollout of transitioning to digital-only payments.

It is understood that the State’s National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) will ditch their policy of switching to digital-only payments in the wake of McGrath’s recommendation.

The website of the NDLS reads “payment at NDLS centres can only be made by credit/debit card or Google Pay/Apple Pay or Payzone vouchers. Unfortunately, cash/cheques/postal orders will not be accepted.”

The discussion surrounding cashless payments entered the political sphere recently, with Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and Minister of State Jack Chambers criticising plans for the NCT service to go cashless.

Tóibín said that a “national conversation was required” surrounding cashless payments, and Chambers said “it is important that payment processes for the NCT service are inclusive and accessible for everyone in the community,”

Age Action claimed that 6 in 10 older people were being digitally excluded because they did not use the internet or smartphones.

Government is set to sign off on changes that ensure critical private-sector businesses such as supermarkets and pharmacies could be mandated to accept notes and coins in order to “preserve social inclusion” and “protect vulnerable customers.”

Although notes and coins are legal tender, the rules allow shops and service providers to refuse to take cash if they make it clear, such as signs, that they operate on a card-only basis.

A new National Payment Strategy (NPS) is set to be published next year and will set out consumer rights in relation to how they can pay for goods and services, including those provided by public bodies.