Dormant accounts – Government must spend windfall fairly

The Government intends to mine substantial benefit from a sleight of hand which went unnoticed when it was mentioned in the immediate run-up to Christmas and which was once again referred to earlier this month. It involves the Government taking control of the disbursement of over €110 million, which currently is the responsibility of the Dormant Accounts Disbursement Board.

Since it was established three years ago, the independent board decided how the unclaimed money, which runs to many millions of euro annually, should be allocated and how much should go to disadvantaged groups.

In its wisdom, and coincidentally in a year of local and European elections which could prove difficult for it, the Government proposes to relieve the board of this onerous task.

Junior Minister Noel Ahern, who has immediate responsibility for the dormant accounts at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, has confirmed that at the start of this month the fund contained a very healthy €175m.

Apparently, the board will continue to administer €30m annually; another €10m will be used for the Rural Fund and apart from a reserve fund to meet future possible claims, the Government will have over €110m of largesse to dispense.

Already, under the terms of the enabling legislation, the board had the power to gather up money which laid unclaimed for years in banks, building societies and post offices.

This is to be extended next April to include matured insurance policies which are also unclaimed.

It is difficult to deny the suggestion by Mr Ahern’s opposite number in the Labour Party, Brian O’Shea, that it is cynical and political opportunism on the part of the Government to assume the role of making the final decision on disbursement.

The Government will, of course, deny such a charge but it is impossible to escape the obvious political kudos in an election year of being in a position to parcel out considerable sums to alleviate poverty, to help people with disabilities or to aid programmes benefiting students and schools.

Such causes are, obviously, deserving and entitled to funding and there is no suggestion the board was doing other than a proper job in dispensing the money at its disposal.

Significantly, one of the reasons why the Government is proposing to change the ground rules is “in light of the emerging scale of the fund”.

The fund is not a one-off collection of unclaimed accounts, but rather presents a regenerating system of access to an unquantified amount every year.