Independent Ireland welcomes Dáil passage of ATM access bill: “Storm Éowyn shows the vital need to protect cash access,” says Fitzmaurice

Independent Ireland welcomes Dáil passage of ATM access bill:
“Storm Éowyn shows the vital need to protect cash access,” says Fitzmaurice

Independent Ireland has welcomed the passage of legislation in the Dáil aimed at guaranteeing access to ATMs and cash services in rural communities.

The new bill, which cleared its latest legislative hurdle this week, will introduce legal protections to ensure that communities across the country—especially in rural and peripheral areas—retain access to cash withdrawal facilities and in-person banking infrastructure.

TD for Roscommon–Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice, said the move was not only long overdue but had been made all the more urgent by recent national events.

“The impact of Storm Éowyn has illustrated just how vitally important it is to have access to cash,” Deputy Fitzmaurice said. “ “When the phones are down or the electricity goes, card machines and banking apps won’t work, so the importance of having cash at hand to purchase essentials became immediately clear in the aftermath of the storm. Rural Ireland already gets the short end of the stick when it comes to digital infrastructure—and that’s before you factor in major weather events. The need to retain access to physical cash is not some quaint notion, it’s a lifeline.”

Independent Ireland has consistently called for a national cash guarantee and has been one of the few voices raising concerns over the silent, creeping erosion of in-person banking services in towns and villages across the country.

Deputy Fitzmaurice added. “This is about resilience. It’s about ensuring our communities are prepared for emergencies. If anything, the situation in countries like Sweden proves the point. Their over-reliance on digital payments has left them exposed to new kinds of risk—from cyberattacks to system failures. We don’t want to sleepwalk into the same mess.”

Sweden, often viewed as a digital payments pioneer, is now backtracking from its cashless trajectory amid growing concerns over electronic vulnerabilities. A recent report in The Guardian (March 2025) warned that the Nordic nation had become “dangerously reliant” on electronic systems, prompting its central bank to reaffirm the necessity of keeping cash in circulation.

“We cannot allow a situation to arise where elderly people, low-income households or anyone not up to speed with the latest technology is excluded from participating in the economy,” said Deputy Fitzmaurice.

Independent Ireland remains committed to defending the social fabric of rural Ireland, including the right to access basic services such as banking, health care, transport and post offices.