Statement

WEIR SUPPORTS CONSUMER COUNCIL CAMPAIGN ON FREE CASH MACHINES  

Posted on: June 2, 2009

“I am disappointed but not surprised to see a that a number of areas within Northern Ireland in general and North Down in particular are without free to use cash machines. In areas where there is a lack of a free to use cash machine, residents are forced to use machine which in effect charge them for using their own money, and in many of these areas there is social deprivation. These are exactly the people who can least afford to have an additional financial burden placed  upon them. The Consumer Council has identified 73 Super Output Areas in Northern Ireland without such a facility, and 4 of these are located in North Down, namely within parts of the Ballymaconnell, Donaghadee North, Crawfordsburn and Loughview wards. 

I commend the efforts of the Consumer Council not simply in identifying these areas, but also in working with LINK, the UK cash machine network, in installing free to use cash machines in these areas where a suitable location can be found. I would therefore appeal to constituents in North Down to help with this campaign, by getting in touch with the Consumer Council with any suggestions for possible locations in any of the four above mentioned areas.”