Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to this meeting. The report is very comprehensive and I note that the researchers interviewed 508 people in order to get an understanding of the customer's point of view. It would appear from the report that the typical person who borrows from a moneylender is likely to be a female with children who has her own house. The amount of money that is typically borrowed is €350 at a rate of 125%, which ends up costing €580 after nine months. That is written in black and white. I have found that many of the people I deal with do not comprehend how money works when it comes to loans. All they know is that they have a need for basic goods in their house, for which they borrow in a hand-to-mouth fashion.

The report suggests that the overriding catalyst for borrowing money from moneylenders is convenience. It is repugnant that as a society we permit people to go knocking on doors offering money. It is licensed because it is something that is potentially damaging. I believe in governance, institutions and the capacity to regulate people's lives at some level. If the notion was floated that off-licence owners could call to people's houses offering them drink, there would be uproar.

The use of moneylenders by those in local authority houses has decreased since 2007. Since the economic collapse, however, moneylenders have increased their business among those living in private housing.