24 April 2003

€200m expected to be transferred to Dormant Accounts Fund

The Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, TD, today said that he expects some €200m will have been transferred to the Dormant Accounts Fund by the end of April.  Sufficient funds will be put aside to fully repay any depositors who seek to reclaim their moneys and the balance will be used for charitable and community purposes.  This money will be distributed by an independent board - the Dormant Accounts Disbursements Board - which comes under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.  The Board is required to prepare a 3 year plan for the disbursement of surplus moneys, including details of its priorities in terms of particular programmes or projects.

The Minister emphasised that there was no question of the State “seizing” the proceeds of dormant accounts; rather it is implementing the recommendations of the Committee of  Public Accounts, that the money be taken into the care of the State and used for specified purposes of societal and community benefit.  

The Minister noted the strenuous efforts to which credit institutions had gone in contacting the owners of previously dormant accounts and said that since the scheme came on-line in March 2002 “its success in reuniting people with their money had been significant.  It appears that almost 60 per cent of the money estimated to have been dormant in March 2002 has since been reactivated and/or reclaimed, proving that the scheme had been a resounding success in meeting its primary goal of reuniting people with their own money.”

The Minister also pointed out that there was “no deadline” for claiming money in a dormant account.  This, he said, can be done at any time in the future, through the claimant’s credit institution, in the normal way.  The Minister pointed out that under the Dormant Accounts Act 2001, the right of reclaim is guaranteed by law.

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