Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think I am getting it. If the loan book owner is outside the State – in Canada, for example – it is not covered by this. It is covered only if it does the credit servicing itself. However, once it has a domestic-based credit servicing company doing its business, the position is different. This implies that the legislation is about regulating those who interface with the customers. That is a bit like regulating the estate agent rather than the owner of the property. The person who owns the property ultimately calls the shots. The loan book owner might not call the shots daily, but on the day it appointed its agent, the credit servicing company, it gave it the riding instructions. The main lacuna is that the loan book owner is not covered - if it is in Canada, for example. Can the Minister see how the owner could be covered? Could it be made a condition of the sale that it would have to agree to be covered? Is the Minister afraid it might limit the sale potential of some of the portfolios of loan books if there were a restriction on the sale, as it might frighten off some companies?