Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I should not have to tell the Minister of State what his own legislation is and does, or how little it does, when he is using that as a stick to beat this legislation down. This Bill would reduce the cost of credit for borrowers by a far more significant amount. That is the form, however. The Minister of State just voted down a section with which he completely agrees. It is disappointing. Let us be clear that the Government's Bill will reduce the cost of a loan of €1,000 by €80 over the period of one year, still leaving interest of €480. This amendment would reduce the figure by €200 in the first three years and €380 thereafter. That is what the amendment does. This is the real effect we need in the context of interest rate caps. The Government has been forced into dealing with this issue. I have been putting it on the agenda for the past four years. I published the Bill four years ago.

The Government has refused to act on this despite the fact that so many vulnerable customers are being fleeced. We have forced the Government, through public opinion, to produce its own legislation which is before the House. However, the legislation does as the Government does, the bare minimum.

Even the Minister could not give recommendations to the public about shopping around. He would not even give recommendations to the public who were in the grip of moneylenders when they withdrew from the State. There was no advice, agenda or strategy to make sure that hundreds of thousands of people who were availing of high-cost credit, which should have warnings and all the rest attached to it, could avail of credit at a far cheaper rate, despite the fact that some of the initiatives being rolled out by the credit union are supported by the Department.

The Minister of State was of the belief that the Bill actually kept the rates at the same level that they were. It is very disappointing that the Government is doing so little.