Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The contractual obligation that is attached to the loan continues with a change of ownership. I therefore cannot see how the person to whom the loan was given originally can be exploited on the transfer because the protections under law are still in place. The solution suggested by the Deputy that only regulated entities with a banking licence should be able to acquire loans would cut across a lot of SME lending. For example, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland has established a way of lending, which is appreciated very much by the SME sector, with three non-bank finance providers, namely, Finance Ireland, Merrion Fleet Management and First Citizen Finance, using the high street banks as vehicles. If the Deputy says there is an issue, I will take his word for it. Further, if he could give me an aide-mémoireon the issue, I will get it checked out and if there is agreement that this is a real issue we will move to amend it.

See this speech in context