Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are not trending towards deregulation; rather, we are moving in the opposite direction. We are taking loan books that are now not regulated by the Central Bank and we are bringing in primary legislation to regulate the manner in which firms that regulate the credit are regulated. It is a move totally in the opposite direction. It is the activity that needs to be regulated. If the owner is a totally passive investor and is not acting in any way in credit servicing, then there is no need to regulate. We regulate the firm that services the loans on behalf of the owner. If, on the other hand, the owner intermittently acts by issuing instructions, we are prohibiting that as well under amendment No. 20, because then the owner would be instructing on an activity which falls within the scope of the Act. The reason we do not regulate the owners as well in the manner the Deputy suggests is that it would serve no purpose.