Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

In the last 17 months I have heard many speeches delivered with a brass neck by Ministers. Last night, however, I heard one of the most delusional speeches I have heard in all that time. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, argued that a consequence of capping the APR rate at 40% would be that "moneylending would no longer be viable, licence renewals would not be sought and it would effectively close down the industry." The only evidence the Minister of State put forward in his speech was research carried out in England that stated that for legal moneylending to be a break-even industry, an APR of 123% would be needed. That simply does not stack up. We heard last night from Deputy Doherty that at least 13 other EU member states have APR caps of between 15% and 25% and the companies that are engaged in legal moneylending in those member states are turning a tidy profit.

The Minister of State then went on to say that legal moneylenders service a gap in the market deemed to suit particular needs of customers - for example, convenience of payment or a long-standing relationship with a particular moneylender. What does that even mean? We are talking about the most vulnerable section of society. That is what the Minister of State is talking about when he speaks of filling a gap in the market. The reason is that the Government has abandoned that section of society. The policies the Government is pursuing, like those of the previous Government, are pushing that section of society further and further into poverty, forcing them to engage with moneylenders. The gap in the market exists because the political establishment does not have the moral or political will to stand up for the most vulnerable people in society. It is too busy kowtowing to the troika, the IMF, the German Government and anyone else who will pat the Taoiseach on the head.

The Minister of State's comment about having a long-standing relationship with a particular moneylender shows how far disengaged from reality he is. The reason individuals have long-standing relationships with moneylenders is that once they are sucked into that cycle, they cannot get out of it. That is the only reason they have such relationships. The most laughable suggestion I heard in the Minister of State's speech was his attempt to justify the charging of massive APRs by legal moneylenders. He said that all moneylenders, when advertising their services, must ensure their advertisements contain the following, in large font: "WARNING: This is a high cost loan". It is a pity we could not put a similar warning on the programme for Government, reading "WARNING: Contains false promises, lies and lots of bull". That would be a lot more appropriate.

I understand where Fine Gael is coming from in opposing this Bill but it beggars belief that there are Labour Party Deputies in this Chamber who will vote against this modest proposal - TDs from the so-called party of the working class. I have no doubt there are genuine Labour Party Deputies in this Chamber who are sick to their stomachs at the carry-on of the leadership of their party and how its members have conducted themselves as Ministers. This is a party that likes to portray itself as the guard dog of the Government, when in reality it has become no more than the lapdog of Fine Gael.

Perhaps I have misjudged some of those backbench Labour Party Deputies. Perhaps I was naive to think that at least some of them have principles and morals. Maybe those backbench Deputies are just blind to what Deputy Gilmore and the other Ministers are doing in Government around the Cabinet table. Perhaps they do not have the backbone to stand up to them and do what the Labour Party claims to do - protect the most vulnerable. Maybe they have just become too comfortable, keeping their heads down while the Tánaiste, a man with experience of wrecking more than one political movement in his lifetime, continues to wreck the Labour Party and everything it claims to stand for. It makes me sick to listen to some of the comments from the Labour Party backbenchers tonight. Not only does it make me sick, however; it pushes tens of thousands more people in our society - the most vulnerable citizens - further into poverty, causing them greater distress and difficulty. It does not have to be like that. Those Labour Party backbenchers can stand up and do what they were elected to do: protect the most vulnerable in society. They can do that at 9 p.m. by supporting this Bill and not acting as a mudguard for Fine Gael.

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