Sean Barrett (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Moneylenders were mentioned. I believe Ms Fahy said these were quite popular guys in their local communities. The Seanad passed legislation on friendly societies which went to the Dáil and has not come back yet. The view on friendly societies in legislation was more or less dismissive: no new ones could be founded and those that did not already have loan funds would not be allowed to set up loan funds. We looked at the Public Service Friendly Society. There is a big movement in the UK also. I suppose it is analogous to credit unions. Our point was that it seemed a strange part of the financial system to shut down or curtail the growth of, because it was the one part that did not go on the rocks. Has the Society of St. Vincent de Paul made any submissions? Would they help people in their financial needs, as they seem to do in the UK quite successfully?