Mr. Bernard Sheridan:

I tried to give a sense of the market in my opening statement. The types of loan that we are discussing range across the variety of providers. For example, there are traditional door-to-door lenders, which charge APRs in the higher bracket. This is partly related to the high cost of credit as well as to the terms of the loans, which drive up the quoted APRs.

We have undertaken this research and followed up on the 2007 research to determine the impact, how borrowers are coping and why they are engaging with the sector in question. In general, people are satisfied because they can get small loans relatively easily. It seems to suit many people despite the fact that we have tried to emphasise the high-cost nature of these loans. People use moneylenders at these rates because of ease of access. An issue for us is whether moneylenders are making it too easy.