Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Section 13 introduces new sections into the 1995 Act - 28A and 28B. It requires that a creditor providing a moneylending or hire purchase agreement cannot do so at a rate above 23%. Could I ask the Minister of State about the remedy that is available to the consumer in this circumstance? In section 28A(3) and 28B(3) there is a novel and interesting proposal which says that a creditor who charges more than 23% cannot enforce the agreement. If somebody charges me 25%, the remedy is that he or she cannot sue me for the money, which is great, but the second paragraph in the subsection states: "Provided that if a court is satisfied in any action that a failure to comply with the aforesaid requirement was not deliberate". Do we mean here that the remedy will not apply if it is simply a mistake and that if a creditor provides an agreement which has 25% and says he or she never realised there was a 23% prohibition, that he or she will be able to avail of that?