Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

On amendment No. 19a the issue raised by the Deputy is important. It must be a priority for public policy to ensure that all have access to credit. This ensures that people do not find themselves needing to resort to the services provided by licensed moneylenders.

Having said this, section 5 provides for the preparation of a scheme relating to the issues encompassed by subsection 4 on the terms and conditions relating to the granting of the guarantee. The Minister is given a wide discretion in respect of these conditions, but it is difficult to see how a commercial guarantee could be conditioned by references to actual lending practices.

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