Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael)
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People hold loans in various institutions and although consumer protection rules still apply, the funds are able to operate at a remove. I am not a banker but if I look at the legislation, it seems the Central Bank has powers in this regard. I note the Governor, Ms McEvoy's boss, appeared before the committee recently and he stated that bank personnel were going to the premises of firms, which I welcome. The problem is there is a complete lack of knowledge as to how these credit servicing firms operate, the remit they take from the funds and who makes the decisions. From the Central Bank's interaction with these firms, why does Ms McEvoy think they will not send representatives before the finance committee? I suspect we have got on to approximately 20 of them and they all come back with the same story. We will take it these people are not ringing up one another and ensuring the stories stand up. If I am sitting with somebody for four or five hours - a husband and wife who have suddenly received a letter, for example, indicating bank account facilities for a family business are to be withdrawn - I must question what is going on. What has been described by the witness is all very well but, effectively, it is only doing what we do here. There is a lack of transparency around credit servicing firms. Has the Central Bank powers to ensure that credit servicing firm representatives will come before our committee?