ICSA Beef chair John Cleary has said he is deeply concerned about AIB Bank’s inability to issue replacement chequebooks to their customers to due to a supply issue. “This situation is not only inconvenient but poses a significant challenge for farmers across Ireland who heavily rely on cheques in their day-to-day business operations,” he said.

ICSA understands that AIB Bank is in the process of securing a new supplier for their chequebooks, and that it could take up to four weeks for the issue to be resolved. “This was an easily foreseeable issue, and it is just not good enough that the bank has allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent. ICSA is demanding answers about why there was no plan in place to prevent this from becoming a problem. Finding a company to print chequebooks is hardly rocket science and we want answers as to why preventative action was not taken sooner.”

“Cheques play a crucial role in facilitating transactions within the farming sector where cash flow management and timely payments are essential for the viability of farming operations. This is particularly the case for farm-to-farm transactions when buying livestock or feed, and for paying agricultural contractors for silage and slurry jobs. The inability to obtain replacement chequebooks not only disrupts these essential transactions but also hampers farmers' ability to conduct business efficiently.”

“Furthermore, it is simply not a solution to ask farmers to use alternative online methods as most farmers do not have debit or credit card machines on their farms, and getting electronic payments set up online is cumbersome to say the least. Even people who are very familiar with computerised payments find them far from user-friendly. Then there is also the issue of broadband reliability in many rural parts to contend with.”

Mr Cleary was also critical of the fact that AIB Bank has failed to inform its customers about the problem. “Failing to inform customers so they could at least plan for the weeks ahead is unacceptable.” He said he was calling on AIB Bank to speed up their efforts to resolve this supply issue to ensure that farmers have access to the financial tools they need to operate their businesses effectively. “Any ongoing delay will be viewed as yet another underhanded attempt at reducing traditional banking services in rural Ireland.”