Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 29:

In page 10, subsection (2), lines 35 to 42, to delete paragraphs (a) and (b) and substitute the following:"(a) in the case of credit information to which section 7(2)(b) applies, until the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which the proposal is withdrawn or the arrangement is terminated,
(b) in the case of credit information to which section 5(2)(c) or 7(2)(c) applies, until the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which it is entered on the Register,
(c) in the case of any other credit information, until the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the first day on which all liabilities under the credit agreement to which it relates have been discharged, and
(d) in the case of personal information, for as long as any credit information relating to the credit information subject may be held on the Register.”.

Amendment No. 29 is the Government amendment to section 8(2) specifies that data retention for this information is linked to the closure or discharge of a debt arrangement rather than that arrangement entry on the register.

The amendment to section 8(2)(b) adds credit information to which section 5(2)(c) applies to this provision and thus specifies that data retention for this information is linked to the date of its entry on the register, not to any specific credit agreement. The amendment to section 8(2)(c) clarifies that this kind of information should be retained for five years after the closure of an account, not immediately upon closure. The amendment to section 8(2)(d) provides that personal information be treated separately and not linked to a specific credit agreement, but rather to a credit information subject more generally. Overall, these amendments, taken together, clarify the periods for which data may be retained on the register.

I do not propose to accept amendment No. 31, which is Deputy Pearse Doherty's amendment. I thank the Deputy for his input. The reason we cannot accept the amendment is because it is important from the perspective of developing the credit risk or credit profile of the borrower that all information on the register is subject to the same retention period. If information related to the original terms for restructured mortgages on primary residences were to be deleted from the register, it would place any new credit information provider at a disadvantage relative to peers who were aware of the original terms to which the credit information subject was subject.

It is also important to highlight the situation whereby a customer may struggle with a mortgage, including, for example, missed payments, but may not seek to restructure the loan and keep to the original terms. All of this detail would be kept on the register for a period of five years, thus placing him or her in an unfair position vis-à-vis those who chose the restructuring option.

Finally, it is also important to recognise that the original terms of the loan up to the restructure represent a significant piece of credit intelligence and should be retained on the register for the same period of time as any other information. I note that it is important to make a distinction between the content of the register and the content of credit reports, which is not specified in the legislation. For example, the Irish Credit Bureau currently holds data for five years, but only two years' worth of data is included in its reports. The contents of reports will be set out in regulations following consultation with credit information providers and the Data Protection Commissioner and will be subject to the Minister's consent.