Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With respect, the discussion of the section may lead to amendments on Report Stage. The Minister of State is really missing the point here. We recognise that a loan cannot be rolled over and a person must make a fresh application. Taking out a new application will not be a problem for many of these families, who will have already met the terms of the previous 12-month loan. They may have taken a loan of €1,000 and paid €560 in interest. They will have repaid the capital and are good for another loan. That is the problem. If they take out another loan in the following year for the same €1,000, the process repeats. The new loans are rolled over. That is what happens with people who use moneylenders. There is no prohibition on advertising the new loan to somebody coming to the end of term in the original loan.

Somebody may have taken a €1,000 loan over four years and will have repaid €2,240 in interest in such a case. Can we stop people from going to moneylenders year after year? We cannot. However, the core of my argument is there should be regulation of advertising of new loans to new borrowers as they come to the end of their term. It is a predatory practice that moneylenders are involved with. The same loan that somebody takes from the credit union over the same period would cost €240 in interest. That is compared with €2,240 with a moneylender.