Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil d'achan Teachta a labhair ar an ábhar seo agus faoi choinne na tacaíochta a thug an mhórchuid acu faoi choinne an Bhille seo, go hairithe an tacaíocht ó mo chomhleacaithe i Sinn Féin agus ó Deputy Michael McGrath agus an Teachta Murphy ó Fhianna Fáil a labhair ar son an Bhille.

I acknowledge all of the contributions to this debate and I welcome the support which Fianna Fáil has pledged to the Bill and its opposition to the Government's stalling amendment. As I said in my opening remarks, six and a half years is sufficient time to consider this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, has asked for another year to analyse a report which he has had for a year. Even if the report had never been published, we as legislators know the issue in terms of the fleecing of customers that is happening in every part of our communities, most particularly in those that are economically disadvantaged and deprived. This is not a secret. The issue has been debated in this House in the past and it has been raised continually in terms of access to credit yet the Minister of State argues that he needs more time. Organisations such as FLAC, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and others have told us time and again, as if we needed to be told in the first instance, that the rate of 187% interest being charged on loans, primarily targeted at low income families and females, particularly single mothers, is extortionate. This is not just about the interest rates. The practices that surround some of this moneylending are not acceptable. It is notable from all of the studies that have been produced that for many of those trapped in this cycle of loans the practice is inter-generational in that children are borrowing from the same loan shark as their mothers and grandmothers. This is the reality. One loan rolls over to another and so on and while money lenders are not supposed to provide unsolicited loans this is what happens. Neither are they supposed to sell other goods but that is what happens. The books are full of these types of activities.

I had the unique opportunity to look under the bonnet of one of these prominent loan sharks, Provident, which is a major loan shark in the Irish market. I did so because five people who worked for Provident - although not directly because Provident organises its staff in a way that they are self employed - had provided me with a huge amount of documentation which showed the illegal activities that were going on within that moneylender, licensed by this State. These were activities that preyed on vulnerable people and provided for roll-up of loans. There were also serious issues in terms of documentation, including identifying documentation. It was clear that the practice that existed in Donegal was widespread across the country. In 2013, I brought that information to the Central Bank and following an investigation by the bank it found against the company and fined it the miserly sum of €110,000. All five individuals lost their positions as a result of that investigation. This type of practice continues. What we learned from the documentation is that this practice is based on aggressive lending and target-led bonus schemes and this is why these loans are being pressed on individuals.

The Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, needs to read his brief. Nobody is forcing anybody into the hands of moneylenders. If one looks to what happened across the water in terms of the restriction on pay-day lending, it is clearly stated in the report, which the Minister of State would know if he had read it, that there is no evidence that anybody accessed illegal money lending as a result of that provision. He would also know that the vast majority of people suggested that they would access credit from elsewhere, including the credit unions and other sources that are legal. If the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, is so concerned about illegal moneylending, let us beef up the prosecutions in that regard. When I introduced this Bill in 2012 not one illegal moneylender had been prosecuted. There has been a number of investigations since but the action is pitiful in terms of what is happening in our society.

This Bill makes sense. It is about protecting people. It challenges the Government to stop protecting the vested interests in terms of moneylending. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have previously used the phrases rip-off lending and fleecing and said that this is not acceptable. It is extortionate. Now is the time to act. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, to withdraw the amendment. It is not fair and it is not right. We know what is happening. We have a duty in this House to protect vulnerable people from being preyed on by this industry. Now is the time to act.

I commend those members who supported this legislation. I am disappointed with the Government benches for proposing this stalling mechanism six and a half years after this Bill was originally voted down by Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

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