Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I understand the company to which the Deputy referred is one of a handful of companies operating in this sector, but I have no information on the intentions of such companies in what is essentially a commercial matter for themselves. In regard to the procedures used by the Financial Regulator to determine what charges it will allow a lender to impose, section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 sets out as criteria the promotion of fair competition, the statement of commercial justification, a credit institution passing any costs onto its customers and the effect on customers of any proposal to impose any charge in regard to the provision of such services. In the case of housing loans, the Act specifically obliges mortgage lenders to inform borrowers of the effect on the amount of their repayment instalments of a 1% increase in interest rates in the first year of their mortgage.

The issue to which the Deputy referred is, therefore, covered by the 1995 Act. If the Deputy is concerned that these companies are not operating within the remit of the Act, she should bring her concerns to the attention of the Financial Regulator for investigation.

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