Dormant Accounts Act, 2001

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Chapter 3

Transfer of Moneys in Dormant Accounts to Dormant Accounts Fund

Transfer of moneys to Fund.

12.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), if a transaction is not effected on a dormant account on or before the date specified in section 10 (1)(c) or 11(2)(c), as the case may be, the institution at which the account is held shall, not later than 30 April next following, transfer to the Fund the moneys in the dormant account and the first such transfer shall take place not later than 30 April 2003.

(2) Where dormant accounts to which subsection (1) applies are held at a building society specified in paragraph (b) of Part 1 of the Schedule, the amount transferred to the Fund shall be an amount equivalent to the total value of the building society's dormant accounts.

(3) (a)  Where dormant accounts to which subsection (1) applies are held at An Post, it shall, not later than the tenth working day after 31 March in each year, furnish a statement, in writing, to the Minister for Finance specifying—

(i) the total value of its dormant accounts, and

(ii) the total number of dormant accounts,

and the first statement shall be furnished not later than the tenth working day after 31 March 2003.

(b)  Where the Minister for Finance receives a statement under paragraph (a), he or she shall cause to be transferred to the Fund, not later than 30 April next following the receipt of the statement—

(i) in the case of savings bonds, savings certificates and instalment savings schemes, from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, and

(ii) in all other cases, from the Post Office Savings Bank Fund,

an amount equivalent to the total value of the dormant accounts specified in the statement.

(c)  The Minister for Finance may by order—

(i) delegate to the Agency his or her functions under this subsection, and

(ii) amend or revoke an order under this paragraph including an order under this subparagraph.

(d)  Where the functions conferred on the Minister for Finance under this subsection are delegated to the Agency under paragraph (c), subsection (4) does not apply to a transfer of moneys to the Fund under this subsection.

(4) An institution that transfers moneys, or arranges to have moneys transferred on its behalf, to the Fund under this section, shall furnish to the Agency a statement, in writing, specifying the total amount of moneys so transferred and the total number of the accounts concerned.

(5) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the moneys transferred from a dormant account to the Fund under this section shall be the ledger balance on the date of transfer.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply to—

(i) a deposit receipt, in which case the amount transferred to the Fund under subsection (1) shall be the amount of the deposit receipt only but excluding any lawful charges that may be withheld by the institution concerned, or

(ii) a petty balances account, in which case the amount transferred to the Fund under subsection (1) shall be the amount that the institution estimates to be equivalent to the total value of the accounts from which moneys have been transferred to the petty balances account by that institution and which are dormant accounts.

(6) An institution that does not hold any dormant accounts to which subsection (1) applies, shall make a report to that effect to the Agency, in writing, not later than 30 April in each year and the first report shall be made not later than 30 April 2003.

(7) (a) An institution that—

(i) fails to transfer moneys, or fails to have moneys transferred on its behalf, to the Fund under this section, or

(ii) fails to make a report to the Agency under subsection (6),

shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) Paragraph (a)(i) shall not apply to An Post.

(8) (a) Moneys which an institution fails to transfer, or fails to have transferred on its behalf, to the Fund under this section, together with any accrued interest thereon, shall be a simple contract debt due and owing by the institution to the Fund and may be recovered by the Minister in any court of competent jurisdiction from the institution.

(b) Moneys recovered under paragraph (a) shall be paid into and form part of the Fund.

(9) In this section—

“ledger balance” means the moneys in an account on the date of transfer of those moneys to the Fund under this section together with any accrued interest thereon but excluding any charges that may lawfully be withheld by the institution concerned;

“working day” means a day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday (within the meaning of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 ).