Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not think we will reach agreement on this issue. I agree with the Minister of State that the most important point is to get the register in place. It is a welcome development and an important step, both for borrowers and lenders, to have a register that has a statutory base and to which all creditors, essentially all financial institutions, are required to submit information. However, the substance of the threshold of €2,000, and we will get to the substance of it when dealing with the next amendment from Deputy Doherty, is excessive and has the potential to lead to bad lending decisions. In the example I have given, licensed moneylenders could give loans of approximately €1,900 - I am not suggesting they do; their loans are much smaller - without having even to access the register to see how indebted is the person to whom they are proposing to lend. That is a significant drawback in the legislation and I ask the Minister of State to revisit it at the earliest opportunity.

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