Dormant accounts will only be handed to the State where owners cannot be traced, according to the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. In a written reply, he defined dormant accounts as "any account with no customer-initiated transactions in the previous 15 years".

Institutions would be obliged to take all reasonable steps to identify the beneficial owners, he told Mr Jim O'Keeffe (FG, Cork South West). He said beneficial owners or their successors of dormant funds were guaranteed the right to seek a refund in the future.