Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and congratulate Deputy Michael McGrath on bringing it forward. I do not subscribe to the view that there is more competition if there are more entrants to the market. I remember speaking on this very subject quite a number of years ago when there were new entrants in my home town, Castlebar, a small town. There were 14 places where one could borrow money and everything went belly-up after that.

The Minister has expressed reservations about the view of the Central Bank and the constitutionality of the Bill. We are at the pre-legislative stage now. Second Stage has been completed in the Dáil. What are Deputy Michael McGrath's views now after his having heard the Minister's views on the Central Bank and his views on constitutionality, which he expressed on Second Stage? There is a considerable amount of work to do on the Bill if we are to bring in the Central Bank representatives and get the legal opinions required to allay the fears over a constitutional problem with the Bill. All the other Stages must then be completed and the Bill must then proceed to the Seanad.