Departmental Strategies
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I thank the Minister of State for her detailed answer. I acknowledge the progress that has been made and our position in second place, but as she said herself, we need to avoid complacency. The Central Bank reported last year that €160 million worth of fraudulent payments were made in Ireland in 2024 alone.
That is a 24.5% increase on the previous year, while the volume of fraud increases by 40%. That message is replicated by what I hear from gardaí all across the country as well.
In my own county of Roscommon, a company called Linked Wellbeing has developed a financial well-being platform that improves financial confidence through education, practical budgeting tools and signposting of trusted public services. It is one example of the innovation that already exists in Ireland and demonstrates that many of the solutions we need are already being developed on the ground.
I agree with the Tánaiste's comments at the launch of the action plan that our ambition must be greater still. Our financial lives are changing faster than ever before. Auto-enrolment, as the Minister of State said herself, is transforming how people save for retirement. Banking is increasingly digital. Investment opportunities are becoming more accessible. Fraud is becoming more sophisticated. If those changes continue - and they will - then the need for financial literacy will only become greater. That is why I believe the pace of implementation should match the pace at which people's financial lives are changing, so that every person in Ireland has the confidence, knowledge and skills to make informed financial decisions throughout every stage of their lives.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09