Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been a debate - and I hope that I have been part of the debate - on whether caps should be imposed on moneylenders. I argued that it should be set at 40%. I know that is a lot higher than what the credit union movement suggested to the Minister for Finance three years ago. Has the Minister for Finance or the Central Bank decided to carry out a proper analysis on the introduction of a statutory cap on moneylenders? This is not fairytale stuff because it has happened in nearly half of all EU member states. Is such an analysis being considered? The arguments put forward by the Central Bank have been very light, to say the least.