Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. This issue came to our attention on Monday when a number of people called to our office to say the doors of Rents & Co., a bill payment company, were closed on Monday morning. There was a certain anxiety among people in regard to the money they had given the company to pay their bills.

Subsequently, customers received a letter dated 31 January from the company advising that the bill payment system was closed, that the Central Bank had frozen its account, that it was no longer able to provide for further collection or deposits, that it would notify customers' creditors on their behalf and that it was currently updating its computer system. What it did not say was whether customers' money would be refunded in full. That is a huge concern for people.

This is a very unfortunate victim of the recession. Many people in the area depended on the company to pay their bills, as they are cut to the bone in terms of paying mortgages, utility bills, insurance and so on.

This is a limited company but we do not know if it is in receivership or insolvent. It seems the money has been frozen under the new Central Bank regulations. I was under the impression that only institutions, such as credit unions and banks, which lend money were covered by the new regulations. This company does not lend and does not appear to have invested in property using money on deposit.

In whatever way this company is dealt with, we must ensure people are paid first. A young lad with a young family put €7,000 in just before Christmas to pay the mortgage, insurance and many other bills which were coming up. Already a number of people have had their UPC connection cut off because the cheques bounced. The company wrote them in good faith but the money was then frozen.

It appears that such companies are not bonded. We should look at limited companies and at what people are signing up to, in particular companies looking for money up-front, for example, the private for profit waste companies asking people to pay up-front. These companies should be bonded to secure that money if they go into liquidation or close. This seems to be happening much more. I would like to hear the Minister's ideas on that.

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