Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I stated, we looked at the figures already and well over half of the products on the market have interest rates in excess of the interest rate cap that we propose. The majority of loans are above this figure, and we are bringing it down. That is only part of this debate. Deputy Doherty has studiously not dealt with the other issue. The existing legislation allows for the cost of door to door collection to be charged as well. That is being abolished in this legislation. What I am saying to people in this situation is that up to now they were paying a very high interest rate and they were also being charged a fee for door-to-door collection, which in many cases was even in excess of the cost of interest. We are eliminating that cost entirely. Moneylenders cannot charge for door-to-door collection. That is a very significant element of this legislation.

The interest rate is a further enhancement for customers. As I stated previously, this legislation sets the cap at 48% - 1% per week. That is the maximum in the legislation and there is clear provision for that to be reduced at a further date if the circumstances warrant when we see the operation of this Act and the report from the Central Bank on how it is being implemented. The legislation provides specifically for reduction at a later date. I understand that the Deputy is in opposition to the legislation as proposed, but the essential difference between us is that we are saying we are abolishing the charges for door-to-door collection, which is a very significant issue, and we are introducing a cap which will immediately reduce interest rates for the majority of people who have loans from high-cost lenders. In addition, we are providing for a further reduction in the interest rate to be made in due course, depending on how the legislation operates. We need to give it a bit of time to see how it operates.