The Government may have to consider making banks charge for withdrawals from ATMs to reduce the amount of cash in circulation, the Minister for Justice said today.
Dermot Ahern was speaking in the wake of a tiger kidnapping in Dublin today in which three men, one armed with a shotgun, abducted the wife of a bank official from her home in Dublin.
The woman was taken from the house Domville Drive, Templeogue early this morning and driven away in a black Volkswagen Golf.
The raiders ordered her husband to take money from the bank and await further instructions.
During the course of the raid, gardaí were alerted and put in place a response team involving both local and national units.
Shortly after 12.45pm, the woman was released uninjured in Ballybrew, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
The raiders made off with an undisclosed sum of money believed to be in the region of €300,000.
Mr Ahern said that while the banks, the Garda and the Irish Bank Officials Association have been working to prevent such incidents, more needs to be done.
He said Ireland was not as cashless a society as most of our European neighbours. "If you go to most European countries, you'll find there's less cash swilling around than in Ireland," he told RTÉ.
“We’re the only country in Europe that doesn’t charge for money coming out of the hole in the wall and that, I think, is something that will have to be looked at.”
Gardaí are appealing to the public’s help in tracing the movements of the gang.
They wish to speak to anyone who may have seen unusual activity in the Domville Drive area from 10 pm last night, the AIB in Clondalkin from 8am or the quarry in Ballybrew, Co Wicklow and Corkagh Park in Clondalkin this morning.
Gardaí are looking for information regarding the black Volkswagen Golf, which may have travelled on motorways and roads between Templeogue and Enniskerry this morning. They are also interested in the movements of a black Nissan Qashqai from 7am between Templeogue, Corkagh Park and the AIB bank.
An incident room has been set up at Terenure Garda station and anyone with information is asked to contact them on 01 6666400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said the news of today’s raid will “send a wave of profound concern among bank workers and their families throughout the country”.
He said while neither the official nor his wife were injured, the “psychological damage which results from such a traumatic situation should not be underestimated”.
Mr Broderick said the union will be seeking consultations with the Garda and security managers of financial institutions to try to prevent further raids.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Alan Shatter said that despite the introduction of additional security measures, tiger kidnappings are “all too commonplace”.
While bank officials and their families are particularly vulnerable, no citizen was immune from the increasing violence in society, he said.
“It is a very basic and fundamental obligation of Government to ensure the security and safety of those who live in this State,” said Mr Shatter. “It is blindingly obvious that the Government and the Minister for Justice are incapable of fulfilling this obligation.”