Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's last comment in particular. He has a can-do attitude and, hopefully, he will re-examine the fact that 13 EU countries, including Spain, Belgium and France, are adopting a legal cap on licensed moneylenders. Even the UK is considering it. We are talking about low-income families who are being refused credit by banks and credit unions and have nobody else to turn to. Perhaps the Minister of State could consider allowing credit unions to apply a risk-based price structure to their loans and charge a higher rate for higher-risk loans. Credit unions could have more of a role to play in these particular instances and provide help for families in extreme difficulty and in poverty. Perhaps this could be considered as part of the ongoing debate about credit unions and what they could and should do in the future.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has highlighted the issue of illegal moneylenders and warned the Government that urgent action must be taken to stop vulnerable families being targeted. Some of them are being charged 400% per quarter for short-term loans, which the Minister will agree is horrendous. Families are turning to these illegal moneylenders particularly when they are preparing their children for going back to school and at Christmas time. Hopefully, something can be done about this as we approach the end of the year. I support the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in highlighting the issue and, hopefully, the Minister of State will target these people.

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