Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 3 deletes the definition of "credit facility documentation" as the term is not used elsewhere in the Bill. Amendment No. 4 amends the definition of "credit institution" to exclude "credit unions". The intention of the Bill is to replicate the existing scope of the credit review office, which does not currently include credit unions. The definition of "credit institution" in the Bill as initiated, however, also includes credit unions so that needs to be corrected.

Section 2(2) and section 2(3) allow for the Minister for Finance to broaden the scope of the service to other regulated financial service providers in the future, should that be necessary. This will allow for developments that may take place in the SME lending market so that institutions that represent significant proportions of that market may be brought into scope following consultation with relevant bodies.

I note the recent changes to the credit union lending regulations by the Central Bank to expand credit union business lending concentration limits to 15% of total assets, which took effect on 30 September 2025. While it is expected this may increase the amount of credit union lending to the SME sector, there are no immediate plans to bring credit unions into the scope of the Bill. Department officials and the credit review service will continually monitor the development of the SME lending market and review the matter for further consultation, based on the parameters set out in section 2(2) and section 2(3). If it appears to the Minister that the development in the market of SME credit justifies extending the scope of the credit review service to other classes of lenders that are regulated by the Central Bank, the Minister may, after appropriate consultation, prescribe those classes of lenders as a relevant person.

The Bill sets out a range of factors of which the Minister must take account when deciding to prescribe a new class or classes of lender as relevant persons whose credit decisions are subject to review by the credit review service. These include the extent to which demand by SMEs for credit has been met, the importance to SMEs of a particular type of credit provided by the class of lenders concerned and the amount of credit provided by SMEs by that class of lender.

Amendments Nos. 5 and 14 relate to section 6 and are drafting amendments that give SI No. 127 of 2010 in sections 2 and 6 its full title.

Amendment No. 6 deletes the definition of "higher purchase agreement" as this term is not used elsewhere in the Bill.

Amendment No. 8 is a technical drafting amendment to insert a reference to section 2(1).

Amendment No. 45 changes a reference to "this Act" in section 32 to a reference of Part 3 and provides that the Part which deals with the review of credit decisions and lending practices shall apply in respect of an application for review, where a recommendation in relation to that application has yet to be made at the time the guidelines are revoked. This will allow the new service to continue any unfinished cases on which the existing credit review office is working at the time the new service is established.

Amendment No. 47 inserts a new section, section 38, to provide for consequential amendments to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017. These amendments remove references to the "credit reviewer" and substitute references to the new service.