Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

The phrase that struck me is: "in the best interests of customers". I fully accept a bank is entitled to seek the repayment of the loan taken out but, in the case I outlined, in respect of which there was a requirement to pay for a report in spite of the business concerned having been hard pressed, there was no obligation on the lender to act in the best interest of the company by facilitating investment in technology. One would wonder why the company was put to the expense. This sort of practice puts more pressure on a small business that is really struggling at the margins.

Are complaints about the code monitored? It is only from complaints that we will determine how the code functions for those who feel they are being dealt with inappropriately by a lending institution. The monitoring arrangements will be really important from this perspective. While we may all have anecdotal experience, general feedback would be very useful.

The Minister said there will be an upgraded code in operation from next January. Will there be an examination in the interim of the experience with the existing code? If experience shows there is a deficiency in the new code, I presume it can be modified.

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