Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Chairman. Some 13 out of 27 EU member states have placed caps on moneylenders. The only legal cap that exists at present has been placed on the credit union movement which has a cap of 12.68% APR. Clearly, the credit union movement cannot compete with the other type of loans because it cannot offer APRs in excess of that rate. If one wants riskier loans to be taken up by the credit union movement then the Central Bank must deal with the APR cap.

Can Mr. Sheridan confirm there is no cap at this point in time and that it can only be done at the discretion of the Central Bank? This time next year the Central Bank could approach us to inform us that it has a licensed moneylender operating at 400% APR. Is that correct?