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

On a related point, when the Government is embarking on the public information campaign, it is important that it make clear to people how long the information will be held for. A period of five is specified in the legislation but if a black mark is registered against people on the credit register, they must understand that it is not there indefinitely. This is related to the point about an automatic credit history statement being issued every year. Perhaps something could be built into the system or else included in the public awareness campaign, so that people know that after a certain period of time, irrespective of credit history, information is removed from the register and the people concerned have a clean slate again. That is very important for people who are trying to plan their financial future and who wish to make a loan application. It should be built into the awareness campaign.

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