Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment as well. It is eminently reasonable. Where I come from, unfortunately, we are not unfamiliar with the phenomenon of loan sharks and the activities they get involved in. We are not unfamiliar with the experiences of people who get on the wrong side of loan sharks. I have no doubt that this scheme has kept people out of the clutches of loan sharks. It seems to work well, from what I can gather and from what I know about it. If the Minister accepted the amendment it would not put an extra charge the Exchequer. It is directly relevant to the legislation because this is the Social Welfare Bill. We spend hours on Committee Stage debating legislation, and the objective is to improve it. If we come away from the committee today either with the amendment accepted or with a commitment that it will be incorporated in some future legislation, then we will have done a good day's work. The Minister should look favourably on it.