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

The previous debate on the personal insolvency legislation ties in with this debate on consumer credit. I fully support Sinn Féin's Bill and believe it should also be supported by the Government. It is estimated that 200,000 people have borrowed from the 47 licensed moneylenders, as well as the illegal ones. The largest sub-prime lender, Provident Financial PLC, lends to 100,000 customers in Ireland. In 2009, 75,000 people had credit from Provident. In 2010, it had increased to 88,000 and by 2011 it had reached 100,000. It charges €30 a day for every €100 borrowed for six months, a horrendous APR of 187.2%. Southside Finance Limited offers loans of up to €100,000 for 26 weeks with an APR of 128%. R&P Credit charges an APR of 195% on a €300 loan over 21 weeks. These are the rates of the legal moneylenders. Can anyone estimate the rates charged by the illegal operators?

Illegal moneylending is becoming a significant problem. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul claims illegal moneylenders have mushroomed during the economic crisis with little action taken to curb their activities. It is a scandal that thousands have been driven into poverty by the actions of the banks and the Government's continued austerity measures. The rise in the number of people availing of Provident's services bears this out. Due to the lack of available credit, it is hard for many people to get loans, forcing them to borrow from moneylenders and loan sharks for day-to-day needs. The Government should hang its head in shame that people are being forced into such a position due to its continued austerity measures.

The gap between rich and poor is also continuing to grow. Recent figures from Social Justice Ireland show that the poorest families experienced an income drop of almost 20% in one year while the incomes of the richest increased by 4%. Yesterday, when these figures were brought up with the Minister for Social Protection during Question Time, she fobbed it off claiming it occurred when Fianna Fáil was in power. However, Social Justice Ireland stated in its report that the Government's continuing austerity measures are creating this inequality.

I support this Bill and I hope the Government will too as it is an opportunity to deal with the issue of predatory loan sharks.

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