Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I feel strongly about this and I do not want to delay the committee but we have drafted legislation which provides that a regulated sector of the financial services industry is not subject to its main provision. This needs to be amended to capture the essence of this issue rather than providing for a review. The Minister of State made a valid point that this would be onerous on all other financial institutions. I recognise, as others do I am sure, that certain regulated services provide smaller loans than others. For example, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator regulate the industry by sector and, therefore, there are separate rules for moneylenders, credit unions and banks. There is no reason we cannot apply a lower threshold under this legislation. It does not have to be the case that the lower threshold applies to every individual.

I have just Googled the largest moneylender in the State, Provident Personal Credit, on my iPad. Its homepage states:

Welcome to Provident Personal Credit
Cash loans from €100 to €500
We're Ireland's number one money lender.
Apply in minutes, its simple, upfront and easy.

Aside from the fact that a loan of €500 from this company would cost €780, I made an application and I will get an answer in a few minutes. When the legislation is enacted, the company will not have to check my credit history. We know that is what these companies do. Every moneylender offers payday loans. It is a massive issue in Britain.