Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's argument against my legislation and my amendment, which would reduce the cost of credit further on households - in my view it is still very high and that is why we need to reduce it further after three years - is that the Department has had to perform a balancing act in terms of a reduction while not scaring away those operating in the market. The view is that if the companies cannot charge 126% APR on a loan over a 12-month period that will scare the horses. How has the Minister of State come to that view? Was it the moneylenders that told him?