Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

To put this debate in context, it is useful to consider some statistics. We know, for example, that the income of the poorest households in the State fell by more than 18% in a single year, while that of the richest increased by 4%. We also know that one quarter of credit card holders rely on those cards to make ends meet each month. Some 40% of people have borrowed to pay for household bills in the past 12 months, with one in ten availing of the services of moneylenders.

What strikes me in this debate is the number of Members who seek to justify the activities of moneylenders. We have been told that introducing legislation to curtail their practices would force lenders into illegal activity. Most of the legislation we discuss in this House is concerned in some way with preventing illegal activity. The reality is that some of the charges demanded by these legal moneylenders are criminal. No company can justify charging interest at 210%. We are talking about people who are in desperate circumstances, with no alternative means of accessing money. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, pointed out last night that 17% of people in this country do not have access to a bank account. How does the Government propose to address that scandalous situation? Will it demand, for instance, that some of the State-owned banks make lending accessible to these people? Unfortunately, I have not heard any solutions from the other side of the House.

It was suggested last night that people who have information about illegal moneylenders should take it to the Garda so that a conviction can be pursued. There was no mention that the last such case which went to court did not result in a conviction. I do not know what happened in that particular instance, but I am well aware that some of the cases which failed in the past did so because of intimidation. In one case, for example, the defendant had social welfare books belonging to different individuals. When the matter went to court, however, none of those individuals was prepared to give evidence. As I am speaking, there are people in my constituency being subjected to intimidation, some because of debts they owe and others because of drug-related matters. I know of people who were stabbed or otherwise assaulted, people who had pipe bombs placed outside their homes and had their doors kicked in. The Garda is aware of these incidents and we have discussed them at meetings of the local drugs task force. This crisis is ongoing right across the city and more than likely in towns and villages throughout the State.

It is easy for the Minister of State to say that people should come forward with information. The reality, however, is that a person who owes a drugs debt, for instance, and is being intimidated is caught between a rock and a hard place. Local gardaí cannot protect such people because they do not have the resources to place a 24-hour guard outside their house. Likewise, people continue to be exploited by moneylenders on the Government's watch. My party has put forward a reasonable solution to the problem, only to be met with bizarre objections and attempts to justify the unjustifiable.

What these people are doing is wrong and must be stopped. Provident, one of the most successful moneylending companies in the country, charges a much lower interest rate of 20% to its customers in Poland. Are we to believe that people in that country are so much more reliable than Irish people in repaying loans? These companies are being allowed to exploit people's desperation. People find themselves facing a situation, such as family illness or bereavement, a christening or communion, where they need to access money. They are not borrowing huge amounts, but the interest charged means the debt grows very quickly. They are then obliged to borrow from another source to repay the original debt and the situation quickly spirals out of control. In response to the solution we have put forward, we are told that the banking system might investigate the issue. Will the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, undertake instead to devise solutions that do not force people down this desperate path? Nobody in this House should attempt to justify that which is unjustifiable. The interest rates charged by these so-called legal moneylenders are a scandal.

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