One business owner has claimed a new law, which could force retailers to accept cash, is another way to 'subsidise the banking industry.'
Shops and cafés could have to accept cash under a new draft bill, set to be discussed by the Department of Finance next year.
The requirements could include having a minimum number of ATMs in towns and regions to give a reasonable access to cash.
Independent ATM operators could also be brought under the remit of the Central Bank.
Stephen Deasy from Bear Market Coffee in Dublin told Lunchtime Live going cashless was the right decision for them.
"We went cashless just before COVID came in," he said.
"We did a trial in our George's Street store there... we studied our flow and our customers, and we weighed up a number of things.
"When we actually added up the time people had their head in the till, keeping in mind that our transactions are quite small... it actually cut down on the interaction side of things on the customer service side.
"Then we obviously brought in the security aspect, we've had a number of our shops robbed... then there's the IT, the accounting side which was a lot smoother on the cashless side of things."
'This is banking issue'
Stephen said businesses should have the right to do this.
"On the back of that we rolled it out to all our shops; I'm not saying that this is something that everyone should do," he said.
"We did it for our own business based on what our customers want - a huge percentage of our customers were cashless anyway, so it wasn't a huge leap for us.
"I by no means say it should be something that every business should do, but I absolutely do think that it should be something that businesses should have that right to do if they want and if their customers want it".
A person using a payment terminal at a coffee shop in January 2019. Picture by: Jacob Lund / Alamy Stock PhotoHe said this is more about banks than businesses.
"This is a banking issue, that's what this comes down to," he said.
"This is Irish retailers being asked to subsidise the banking industry once again.
"Cash is something banks should absolutely have to offer... but the way I read this is that Irish retailers are going to be forced to make a business decision.
"Retailers shouldn't be involved in this at all; living in a free country, retailers should be allowed to make a decision on how they market their company".
Legal tender
Eamonn from Longford said the issue of 'legal tender' could be called into question.
"This movement towards card only is just another manifestation of the whole movement towards removing human interaction with banking or insurance companies or service providers," he said.
"I definitely would very much welcome the introduction of that legislation.
"Mind you I find I have a little bit of a problem with that in the sense that I would have thought the term 'legal tender', as I understand the term, means that the tender in cash - in the relevant jurisdiction - must be accepted as a form of payment," he added.
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