Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We examined the issue. My officials sought legal advice and I am assured that the current wording in the Bill is sufficiently robust. Sections 14 and 15 specify the occasions on which a credit information provider must or may access the register, and these do not allow general trawls, for example, to look for “good” potential customers. Section 14 provides that a credit information provider must access information held on the register which relates to a person who has made a relevant credit application to the credit information provider. Section 15 provides that a credit information provider may make an application to access information held on the register on those occasions, as outlined at subsections (1) to (3). Even where information has been accessed under either of those sections, subsection (4) of each of those sections restricts the uses to which the information may be put by the credit information provider for the purposes provided for in section 16. That is the all-important section mentioned by Deputy Doherty.

The purpose of section 16(b) is the evaluation of any risk arising from the affording or extending of credit to, or the taking of a guarantee or indemnity from, a credit information subject. Under paragraph (b) the information can be used for evaluating the risk of lending to someone. It appears that concerns have been raised about section 16(b) because it is claimed the wording is open-ended and too flexible. We do not see section 16(b) as allowing a credit information provider to pony up business. The provision under section 16(b) relates to an application already made by a credit information subject for credit or for the taking of a guarantee or indemnity from a credit information subject which is already under consideration by a credit information provider. The credit information provider would only get information on a particular credit information subject because of the scenarios outlined in sections 14 and 15. If, having been given access to the register for the purpose of section 16(b), a credit information provider were to use the information obtained to unilaterally seek entirely new business from the credit information subject separate to the business already under consideration between the credit information provider and the credit information subject, that would not be in accordance with section 16(b) and would be an offence under section 29(2). Nothing in section 16 permits the use of information for generating additional business.

Having examined the issue and obtained advice, we think the section is sufficiently robust. The objective of section 16(b) is to provide a framework for sections 14 and 15, and were institutions to use that as a means of generating additional business, as the Deputy has correctly highlighted, that would be a significant offence for which penalties are already provided in the legislation. I am grateful to the Deputy for raising the issue and clarifying it in the way he has, but our belief is that sections 14, 15 and 16(b) do as we expect rather than provide some kind of lacuna whereby institutions can generate additional business.

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