Dormant Accounts Act, 2001
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Publication of notice. |
11.—(1) Where a dormant account is held at an institution and— | |
(a) the amount in the account is less than €100 or its equivalent in any other currency (or any other amount that is prescribed under subsection (7)), | ||
(b) the institution has been instructed by the account holder not to correspond with or contact the account holder, or | ||
(c) the institution has taken all reasonable steps to notify the account holder in writing in relation to the account and fails to do so, | ||
section 10 does not apply and the institution shall publish or cause to have published a notice in 2 or more daily newspapers circulating in the State and in the Iris Oifigiúil. | ||
(2) The notice shall be in the prescribed form or in a form to the like effect and shall contain the following information: | ||
(a) subject to subsection (3), the name of the institution and the current address of its head office and any information regarding a change of name; | ||
(b) that the institution holds dormant accounts; | ||
(c) that if a transaction is not effected on a dormant account on or before 31 March next following, the moneys in the account will be transferred to the Fund without further notice to the account holder; | ||
(d) that any interested persons should contact the relevant institution to establish if they hold such an account; | ||
(e) that account holders are entitled, subject to this Act, to claim repayment of the moneys in dormant accounts from the institution concerned; | ||
(f) any additional information that may be prescribed. | ||
(3) (a) An institution which publishes, or causes to have published on its behalf, a notice under this section shall, on request, make available free of charge— | ||
(i) details of the current address of its head office and any information regarding a change of name, and | ||
(ii) subject to paragraph (b), any other relevant information specified in the request. | ||
(b) Where the information referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) is otherwise made available to persons subject to a lawful charge, that information may be made available under this subsection subject to that charge. | ||
(4) The notice shall be published— | ||
(a) in the case of the first notice, on 30 April 2002, and | ||
(b) in any other case, in each subsequent year, on the first week-day in October in that year. | ||
(5) Copies of a notice published under this section shall be— | ||
(a) permanently displayed in a prominent position at each premises in which the institution carries on business that is open to the public, and | ||
(b) published in a prominent position— | ||
(i) in all brochures and publicity material, in relation to dormant accounts, issued by the institution, and | ||
(ii) in any relevant code of conduct of the institution. | ||
(6) An institution that fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(7) The Minister may, by order, amend at any time the amount specified in subsection (1)(a) if the Minister— | ||
(a) considers it appropriate to do so having regard to all the circumstances, and | ||
(b) is satisfied that by doing so members of the public will not be prejudiced. |