MEP representing Kilkenny says no cash policy discriminates against pensioners

Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has said she will support amendments to the new EU Regulation on the Legal Tender of Euro Banknotes and Coins to ensure that people have a right to use cash when shopping in their local butcher, supermarket, coffee shop or when paying utility bills across the EU.

Ní Mhurchú, who represents Kilkenny constituents, described cash as an important driver of economic growth for rural Ireland and said that older people in particular prefer to draw their pension in cash and spend it accordingly.

 “Many pensioners I have spoken to across rural Ireland draw down their pension once a week and having that cash in front of them helps them to budget their spending for the week,” she said.

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“Card payments are very convenient and should remain a large part of our economy but we cannot replace cash payments completely. This is about giving consumers a choice.” 

In June 2023, the European Commission brought proposals to the European Parliament to safeguard the role of cash in the EU, saying it must be accepted as a means of payment everywhere in the EU.

That proposal would bring legislative effect to a 2021 judgment by the European Court of Justice which ruled that cash must be accepted as a means of payment, with limited exceptions.

Ní Mhurchú expects that these proposals will make their way through the European Parliament this year and said that along with her colleagues in the Renew group, she will be tabling amendments to the new EU Regulation on the Legal Tender of Euro Banknotes and Coins.

This will 'effectively copper fasten the rights of people to use cash in their everyday lives'.

The amendments will mean that businesses cannot refuse cash.

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