Ms Lorraine Corcoran:

That has happened with the It Makes Sense loans. We find that credit unions report to us when they offer those loans that sometimes people will come in and find they qualify for standard lending. Sometimes a different initiative is not needed. Credit unions that are not participating in the It Makes Sense initiative run a lot of local schemes. There are sometimes referral systems, either through the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, or the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is a huge player in this regard and would have an awful lot to add to this debate in terms of what it sees locally. The society often works closely with credit unions to move people towards them.

An important point in all of this is that there are a lot of stakeholders who need to come together to make sure that we offer alternatives to people and enable them to avail of what is there. In addition, if community welfare officers, through the Department of Social Protection, are more attuned to what is available and how we can help, that is another way of moving people on from moneylenders. However, it is a very ingrained model and we really need to look at it from the point of view of that people are dealing with a service that is available in their own home. We are trying to reverse from there.