Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 21, to delete lines 30 to 33 and substitute the following: “(i) the date on which the borrower receives the offer to enter into the credit facility agreement or alternative arrangement, as the case may be,

(ii) subject to subparagraph (iii), expiry of the period of 15 working days referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “constructive refusal” in section 2, or

(iii) where a notice referred to in paragraph (b)(ii) of the definition of “constructive refusal” in section 2 has been given to the applicant, expiry of the period referred to in the notice,”.

Amendment No. 31 amends section 26 of the Bill to provide for a review of a credit decision in the form of a constructive refusal where a lender fails to respond to an application for credit within 15 working days. Currently section 26(2) provides time limits for the making of an application for review by a borrower. However, it does not currently provide for a situation where a relevant person fails to make a credit decision and notify the borrower within 15 days of receipt of the application, which would constitute a constructive refusal. I therefore propose an amendment to add a provision to section 26(2) that will cover such situations.

Amendments Nos. 32, 33, 39 and 40 are technical drafting amendments to amend references in sections 26 and 27 to ensure that defined term "application for review" is used where appropriate. The application for review currently referred to in section 27(1)(d) is not strictly speaking an application for review since it is not a valid application. The reference is amended accordingly. Amendment No. 34 amends section 26 to clarify that the decision referred to in subsection 8 is a previous decision of the service. Amendments Nos. 35, 36 and 37 together impose an obligation on a lender to respond to a decision of the service even when that decision is to uphold the lender's original credit decision. Amendment No. 35 replaces the reference to "a recommendation of the service" with a reference to "a decision of the service". This includes a decision to uphold the lender's original credit decision as well as a recommendation to provide the credit or some of the other recommendation in relation to the credit decision. Amendment No. 36 provides that the lender shall acknowledge the service's decision. Amendment No. 37 amends the reference to "the decision" to "that decision" to distinguish between the decision of the service and the decision of the lender as to what action, if any, to take in response to a recommendation of the service. Amendment No. 38 amends section 27(1)(c) to clarify that "the relevant person" referred to in subsection 1(c) is the relevant person to which the borrower had applied for the loan. Amendment No. 43 amends section 27(2)(c)(ii) by inserting the words "by regulations" after "prescribed". This is to provide clarity as to the regulations referred to in the existing provision.