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

I have not used the phraseology the Deputy mentioned in regard to this area. What I want to achieve in this legislation is that we have lenders that people will be able to go to, rather than go to illegal moneylenders. It is essential that we keep the option open for moneylenders to be able to lend money even at the reduced rate we will allow, because if it is eliminated by companies not being in the market, people will only have the option to go to illegal moneylenders. We want to make sure that we have that option available. We could bring it down to 20% and have nobody in this market, but that would be a worst-case scenario.

In May 2019, the Department of Finance launched a public consultation process to gather views from stakeholders on whether the Government should introduce a statutory interest rate cap on moneylenders in Ireland, along with other regulatory matters. The majority of submissions received were in favour of the introduction of an interest rate cap. These submissions were primarily received from non-governmental organisations and credit unions. All of the comments and submissions made through this consultation process have been considered and taken into account, as appropriate, in formulating the proposed policy options.

What we did say is we are striking a balance to make sure, first, that we are eliminating the charge for door to door collection, which is a significant feature; second, we are reducing the rate that is being charged on the majority of loans; third, it is a maximum cap that can be reduced at a further date. We have taken all those factors into account to make sure we have people who will lend money at this rate. There are only a couple of dozen companies operating in the country. This is a balanced approach to achieve those three objectives. It is not only looking at one side of the equation. I have mentioned the other side of the equation and the reduction in fees the companies can charge in terms of not being able to charge for calling door to door.