Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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With respect, all the Central Bank has done is make people aware that they are being screwed by moneylenders. It has not reduced the rate through which moneylenders are screwing customers and it knows, through the most recent data, that moneylenders continue to have a grip on these individuals, with 38% having loans for over five years.

Section 99 of the Consumer Credit Act is supposed to ban top-up loans. It is very clear from the Central Bank survey that top-up loans continue to be given and that multiple loans to the same individual continue to be given. Some 22% of people have more than one loan, some with the same financial provider. How many investigations are ongoing into moneylenders and how many prosecutions have been taken against moneylenders in the past three years?