Dormant account fund gets €56m boost

THE dormant accounts fund has just got a cash boost of €56 million, bringing the total fund for the disadvantaged and people with disabilities to €225m.

The extra cash comes from accounts in banks and building societies that have not been touched by clients for 15 years and, for the first time, from life assurance policies that have not been claimed in the same period.

The money includes €33m from the banks and building societies and €23m from insurance companies, paid into the Dormant Account fund this month, according to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

The independent Dormant Accounts Board will decide how the first €30m of the fund will be spent by the end of this year. It has already paid out almost €5m to the disadvantaged and people with disabilities.

But from next January, the Government, not the board, will decide how the money will be spent. By then there will be €162m left, with €33m kept in reserve for any future claims on the money.

When the handover of responsibility for the fund was first revealed in February, Labour said the Government would use it as slush fund for election spending.

“The Government has come on a crock of gold that can be used as an election war chest in constituencies where it needs to win or retain Dáil seats,” Deputy Brian O’Shea of Labour said.

But the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which will have responsibility for the dormant accounts, rejected the claims.

A spokeswoman said given the size of the fund it was felt it would be more appropriate for the Government to decide.

The board will still have an advisory and monitoring role, she said.

However, the Government will not control the dormant account fund in time for the local and European elections as the board controls the disbursement of the first 30m which will not be allocated until the end of the year.