I raise the ongoing refusal of the National Driver Licence Service to accept cash payments from people. I simply cannot understand how a State agency can continue to ignore clear Government policy on this issue. Successive Ministers for Finance have made their position clear. Michael McGrath called on the NDLS to reverse its policy, and the national payment strategy of the Minister, Deputy Jack Chambers, reaffirmed that essential public services provided by the State, or on its behalf, should accept cash. Yet here we are, and nothing has changed.

The reality is that this is causing unnecessary inconvenience and discrimination. Some 350,000 people in Ireland do not have a bank account. Many more rely on cash because it helps them to budget, because they are not comfortable using digital technology or simply because that is what they choose to do with their money. Cash is the most inclusive form of payment that we have. It does not depend on having a smartphone, Internet access or even electricity. The Central Bank itself has pointed out that cash provides freedom and autonomy because it can be used without relying on a third party. We only have to remember the global IT outages of recent years to see how quickly digital payment systems can fail. Cash provides certainty for people. Elderly people find that cash helps them to maintain their independence and dignity. For victims of domestic abuse, it can provide a degree of financial privacy and security that electronic payments cannot.

If we are serious about protecting consumer choice, then that choice must include cash. Whether someone pays by card or cash should be their decision, not one that is imposed, in particular by a State agency. We should have a debate on the matter in the Chamber.