Results 1,081-1,100 of 34,585 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Where the seller of the goods, the shop, advertises interest- and cost-free credit, it already falls within the scope of the legislation. The doubt is over whether the provision of credit to the shop by the company the Deputy referred to is covered by the original legislation. We are introducing the amendment just to make sure the provider falls under the authorisation of the Central Bank.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Correct.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Yes. Ultimately, we want to capture the credit provider who provides credit to the shop. That credit is ultimately passed on to the customer, who may not be aware that there is a credit provider. The amendment is to make sure there is recourse to the credit provider, not just the shop, which-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Could the Deputy say that again?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I believe we are ad idemon this regarding the customer in the shop. The customer who buys something in a shop may be told to pay for it now and at the end of one, two and three months, not aware that credit is being provided to the shop. This is where the arrangement is solely between the customer and the shop. Klarna or any other such company is not involved in any transaction involving...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Not necessarily.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: The first group that the Chairman mentioned is already captured in the legislation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: So everything that the Chairman spoke about in the first instance, where there is a credit agreement, is already captured. This is an amendment where there is cost-free credit. So there is no credit charge. One just goes in and if it is €1,000 then one pays €333 today, €333 at the of the month and €333 at the end of month two. There is no credit charge. None....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I can confirm that the legislation captures people who provide credit and the people who advertise the provision of credit. So the provider, Klarna, is captured under this legislation. All of the credit providers are covered.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I will read the wording of the amendment as I think that will help. It states, "credit granted or made available" so everyone is covered if they make credit available. The amendment continues, "without payment of interest or any other charge, other than where such credit is granted or made available by a person who has invited, by way of advertisement, consumers to avail of such...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I understand that. What is excluded from the legislation, which the Deputy has talked about, is what we call the informal credit. I mean where a person buys something in a shop on tick and pays the money at the weekend or at the end of the month. Those types of informal arrangements where there is no interest charged are the types that have been excluded up to now and do not prevent the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I will read one note. I am happy to provide further information subsequently. The intention of the entire legislation is to capture the direct and indirect providers of credit. That is the essence of it. Nevertheless, there is a concern that in a slightly different context, interest-free and cost-free buy now pay later, BNPL, credit which is advertised or provided or both by an entity...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: The real concern here is from the consumer's point of view. Under the arrangement that I have just mentioned, there is no credit being charged along the line. The shop is going to pay commission back to the credit provider. There is no interest charged anywhere in the system. While such credit may not come at a cost to the consumer, there is nevertheless a concern that the consumer, if...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I would be happy to do that. We will get the note back to the committee as quickly as possible, well before Report Stage. What we are capturing here is the providers of credit that are invisible in the system. There is no advertising. The companies that advertise are already captured. We talked about the situation where the seller of the goods is advertising. There could be an...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: On the question raised by the Deputy on late payment penalties, we are dealing with the APR as taking all the costs of credit into account. It is on the basis that the contracts are implemented and honoured. This legislation does not deal with situations where there is a default in those payment arrangements. To my knowledge, it does not give comfort to people who default on their loan or...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: There is on the loan. If a customer defaults on the loan, it would be a commercial arrangement between the company and the person who has taken out the loan. Late penalties do not fall within the scope of the APR that we are dealing with here.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I am advised that those matters are already addressed in the consumer protections Acts. I do not think anybody would accept a finance company did not understand the product it was selling. There are provisions in separate legislation already on consumer protection. As I stated in response to the previous issue where there is default or people do not make the payment, issues like that are...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: I am advised that a breach of this section would be an offence that the Central Bank can deal with in the normal course of events.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (23 Feb 2022)

Seán Fleming: Yes. The Central Bank has authority if there is a breach of the legislation.