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

In my initial reply, I said if that concern is realised in a broad way, there can be a legislative response, ultimately, by way of the regulations the Ministers can introduce. Deputy Doherty accepted that not all moneylenders are the same but a second important issue is if we apply such onerous conditions to relatively small sums, will we drive more people into the hands of the unscrupulous lenders? I am playing devil's advocate in this regard. However, in trying to be helpful about this, we propose that as the threshold becomes operational, we will be able to ascertain after a period whether we need to review this provision. If so, it can be reviewed.