Ms Derville Rowland:

-----and its proposals. What we have here is a position where the credit is usually sold on the garage forecourt in the car dealerships. The credit intermediary is currently regulated by the CCPC. It is also responsible for the sale of goods in terms of consumer provision of goods. That is where we find that the provision of the good - the car - is fairly intermingled with the financial service because some of the terms and conditions of that hire purchase agreement can be to do with servicing, the mileage etc.

The worry in this regard is that one could end up with a patchwork quilt of regulation which might not deliver an optimal outcome for the consumer. One might find providers saying that the issue is the condition of the good, not the way in which the financial product was sold. We would see a big risk in unpacking that and putting it into separate areas. The key observation for us it that we have a very limited role under the Consumer Credit Act 1995. We have some hire purchase responsibilities relating to what should be in the contract, but we do not actually authorise any of the regulated entities in the area of hire purchase because anybody can provide that service. The question the Deputy asked at the beginning was about the consumer protection code. It is mentioned as one of the solutions in the report. It cannot actually be extended to this area under the current legal frameworks because the code travels with authorisation from the Central Bank and we do not authorise hire purchase providers. There are a couple of things to think about with regard to any solution which some might desire be put in place. Responsibilities for the sale of the car, which in inextricably linked with the condition of that car, and for the seller of the finance sit with another agency at the moment. Of course, we are happy to take part in any fact-finding, solutions or discussions that would be of benefit. That is why, at the moment, it would not even be legally possible to put the consumer protection code into use in this area. It is because we do not authorise those entities.