Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 5, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:“ “credit” has the meaning it has in section 2(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1995;”.

The amendments are required to improve the final draft of the Bill. The main amendment is the refinement of the definition of "debt" and the new definition of "credit". It is important that the meaning of these terms is made clear in the Bill. They give effect to the decision to exclude from the scope of the Bill consumer debts owed to financial institutions or licensed moneylenders and arising from loans. All of these debts are excluded from the scope of the Bill. The reason for the exclusion is that these debts are different in nature from other civil debts. There are other mechanisms available to deal with them.

The other amendments are required to further improve the drafting of the Bill. Like most Bills, it is part of the drafting process, from which quite a few technical amendments follow on.

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