Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is much more we could say on the issue. It infuriates me that this has happened. I know some people personally who were affected and what they have gone through.

Returning to the Bill, as Deputy Michael McGrath said, it has passed Second Stage and there was unanimous support for it. There might have been a bit of reluctance from some of the Government parties but the majority of the Members in the Dáil are very much in support of not only a reduction in standard variable rates but to introduce a type of system which would empower the Central Bank to introduce caps. That will only work if the Central Bank will use the power. Our responsibility in the Houses of the Oireachtas is to provide the toolkit for the Central Bank and then allow it to decide which tool it wishes to use to deal with whatever issues arise. The concern is that if we pass the legislation that the Central Bank will send a signal to the institutions that it will never use those powers. I share Deputy Michael McGrath's view on the Bill because we tabled legislation of a similar nature ourselves. We also tabled legislation on moneylenders and had it debated. Legislation is not the best way to deal with the issues that arise. What we want to do is force the financial institutions to start to reduce their interest rates to a more acceptable level. We do appreciate that has happened to some extent in the past year. If the Oireachtas passes the legislation will the Central Bank use it?