SDG 8.10.1 Number of Commercial Bank Branches and Automated Teller Machines
SDG 8.10.2 Proportion of Adults (15 Years and Older) with an Account
SDG 8.a.1 Aid for Trade Commitments and Disbursements
SDG 8.b.1 Existence of a Developed and Operationalized National Strategy for Youth Employment
SDG 8.10.1 (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults. Data is provided from a number of financial sources and the CSO.
The Irish retail banking market is highly concentrated, with only five active retail banks operating in the market - AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank and KBC. [Recently, it was announced that KBC and Ulster Bank are to exit the Irish market. Details are available from the Department of Finance Press Release April 2021.]
An Post, credit unions and other non-bank finance providers are also imporant providers of financial services in Ireland.
An Post, with nearly 1,000 branches, also provide some retail financial services and has recently introduced a Smart Current Account.
There is a well-developed Credit Union sector with over 250 credit unions and over 3 million members, according to the Department of Finance data (June 2017).
The five main banks have approximately 2,900 ATMs for cash withdrawal nationwide. There are also a number of private companies operating ATMs in Ireland according to the European Banking Federation.
About three in four people aged 18 and over used internet banking in 2020, based on data in the Information Society Statistics-Households 2020 published by the CSO.
There were 1,912 financial services branches in 2019, 956 of which were post offices, according to the Department of Finance Evaluation of Concept of Community Banking in Ireland. See Table 7.1.
There were 40 financial service institutions per 100,000 people in Ireland in 2019. This varied from 84 per 100,000 in Leitrim to 26 in Kildare. See Table 7.2 and Map 7.1.
There were 5 credit unions per 100,000 people in ireland in 2019. This varied from 22 per 100,000 in Leitrim to 3 in Wexford. See table 7.3.
There were 20 Post Offices per 100,000 people in Ireland in 2019. This varied from 41 per 100,000 in Leitrim to 11 in Kildare. See Table 7.4 and Map 7.2.
There were 15 bank branches per 100,000 people in Ireland in 2019. This varied from 22 per 100,000 in Leitrim to 9 in Meath. See Table 7.5.
The CSO's publication Measuring Distance to Everyday Services in Ireland shows that just over 43% of the population lived less than 2km from a bank with cashier services. This percentage increased to over 86% for people living in Dublin City.
One in five people (19.3%) lived 10km or more from a bank in 2016. More than half (54%) the people living in Leitrim were more than 10km from a banking branch. See Table 7.6 and map 7.3.
Just 1.5% of people in Ireland resided 10km or more from their nearest post office. Clare (at 5.6%) had the highest percentage living more than 10km from a post office, followed by Mayo (5.4%) and Kerry (5.0%).
Over 40% of Roscommon residents were 5km or more from a post office, the highest of any county. In contrast, six out of ten people in Ireland lived within 2km of a post office, although there were wide differences across the country, from 29% in Roscommon to 97% in Dublin City. See Table 7.7 and Map 7.4.
Data published in the European Central Bank Payment Statistics reports show the number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) per million inhabitants across the EU. Metadata is available with the data reports.
There were 58 ATMs per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland in 2019, down from 62 ATMs in 2018.
However, the number of point of sale terminals increased from 4,739 per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland in 2018, to 6,356 in 2019. This latter figure was approximately 86% higher than the Euro Area ratio and 94% higher than the EU ratio. See Table 7.8.
SDG 8.10.2 Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider was supplied by the Central Bank of Ireland.
The number of personal credit cards in active use dropped from 1.48 million in 2015 to 1.35 million by 2020. Over this time period, the number per person aged 15 years and over dropped from 0.4 to 0.3.
There were 8.33 million transactions in October 2015 on personal credit cards, and by October 2020 this had risen to 11.35 million. The number per person aged 15 years and over rose from 2.3 in October 2020 to 2.9 in October 2020.
The number of debit cards in active use rose from 3.89 million to 4.67 million between 2015 and 2020, while the number per person aged 15 years and over increased from 1.1 to 1.2.
There were 13.22 million ATM transactions in October 2015, but by October 2020 this number had dropped sharply to 6.98 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number per person aged 15 years and over fell from 3.6 to 1.8 over this time period.
The number of point of sale transactions in October increased from 43.92 million in 2015 to 105.03 million in 2020, while the number per person aged 15 years and over rose from 11.9 to 26.4. See Table 7.9.
Internet Banking
The CSO's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey provides information on internet banking. The ICT Household Survey 2020 was included in the CSO's LFS (Labour Force Survey) for two quarters in 2020, Quarters 1 and 2, instead of just Quarter 1. In all previous iterations of the ICT Household survey, the survey was carried out in Quarter 1 only.
According to Information Society Statistics - Households 2020 , 76% of those who used the internet in the last three months had used internet banking in 2020. There was very little difference between the rates for males (78%) and females (74%).
Younger people were more likely to use internet banking. More than eight in ten people aged under 44 years, who had used the internet in the last three months, had used internet banking, compared with 63% of those aged 60-74 years.
By region, the highest proportion who used internet banking was in Dublin at 80% compared with 68% in the Mid-West. See Table 7.10.
SDG 8.a.1 Aid for trade commitments and disbursements data is provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The value of aid in 2019 for trade commitments and disbursements was €32.0 million, 5% of the total Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget of €705.6 million, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. See Table 7.11.
SDG 8.b.1 Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy was published by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Social Protection.
The Pathways to Work 2016-2020 will fuel the drive to full employment and the increase in the numbers at work to 2.2 million by 2020.
The strategy, devised by the Department of Social Protection, contains six key strands involving 86 dedicated actions to build on the employment progress to date under previous Pathways strategies.
Pathways to Work 2016-2020 will enhance employment, education and training services for jobseekers, continue with reforms to make work pay, and increase engagement with employers to provide greater opportunities for those seeking work.
The goal of Pathways is to ensure that as many jobs as possible go to people on the Live Register, so that the recovery benefits everybody and no one is left behind. This new Pathways strategy sets out clearly how to ensure full employment with 2.2 million people at work by 2020, by identifying key actions to deliver and challenging targets to meet.
Pathways 2016-2020 will build on this progress as Ireland enters the next phase of the jobs recovery, spurred by strong economic growth. This will involve six key strands as follows:
Strand 1: Enhanced engagement with jobseekers – this will see the Department continue to improve the quality of engagement between the Intreo service and jobseekers, with a particular focus on helping the long-term unemployed into work.
Strand 2: Increase the employment focus of activation programmes and opportunities – this will ensure targeted, responsive, locally and regionally adapted opportunities such as work placements, education and training.
Strand 3: Making work pay: incentivise the take-up of opportunities – this will ensure that jobseekers have a financial incentive to work and that the tax, welfare and employment policies of the State act to encourage the take-up of work.
Strand 4: Incentivise employers to offer jobs and opportunities to unemployed people – the Department continue to incentivise employers to offer good quality and sustainable opportunities for jobseekers and assist them to recruit from the Live Register.
Strand 5: Continue to build organisation capability to deliver high quality services to unemployed people – this will see the Department build on the fundamental overhaul of employment services instigated since 2012 to further enhance those services for jobseekers and employers alike.
Strand 6: Building the workforce – this will ensure that strategic reforms under way in the education and training sectors are closely aligned with the needs of employers, workers and jobseekers.
The six strands will involve 86 specific actions, including:
The Action Plan for Jobs 2018 (APJ) is a whole-of-Government initiative under which Government Departments and Agencies work to support job creation.
APJ 2018 is the seventh in an annual series outlining the Government’s joined-up approach to maximising employment across Ireland. While acknowledging that Governments do not create jobs, the approach recognises that all Government Departments have a role in creating the best environment for enterprise and job creation.
The Action Plans are underpinned by the following strategic goals:
The Changing Context and Immediate Aims
The context for APJ 2018 is thankfully very different to that for APJ2012 and, as a result, the approach and character of APJ2018 is very different. In 2012 the Government launched the first APJ in response to a severe unemployment crisis. With the unemployment rate at 16%, APJ 2012 and subsequent plans focused in the first instance on stemming the flow of job losses and also on taking every possible step to encourage job creation. This approach has seen almost 313,000 more people at work since the launch of the first APJ in 2012. The recovery has been underway since 2013 and the Irish economy is growing at a healthy pace. The outlook for next year and over the medium term is relatively positive.
With the unemployment rate at 6.1% in January 2018, APJ 2018 focused on embedding the progress made, positioning themselves to take new opportunities as they arise, and ensuring that their enterprises are focused around resilience in the face of significant challenges.
The four key immediate aims of the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 are:
1. That Ireland’s enterprise base remains successful amid the uncertainty created by Brexit;
2. That all parts of the country achieve their potential in terms of job creation;
3. That those entering, re-entering, or in the workforce have the incentives and skills needed to prosper; and
4. That Ireland’s enterprise base remains successful by focusing relentlessly on competitiveness, productivity, and innovation.
They have set a target to achieve employment growth of 2.3% in 2018 which equates to approximately 50,000 jobs.
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