Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regulations and protections are in place. Perhaps those regulations are not strict enough or those protections strong enough, but we are of course always open to hearing proposals that might strengthen protections for borrowers or the regulation of financial institutions. We have done that in the past and it is something we remain open-minded about into the future. It must be borne in mind that all of these circumstances and individual cases are different. Often, the story which we hear is not always the full story when we look into it. If people have borrowed money, they have a responsibility to pay it back and find a mechanism by which they can do so. Ultimately, people not repaying their debts cause wider social harm to others and we must be honest about that aspect.

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