Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I, too, compliment Senator Cox on the elegant way in which she has advanced her arguments and for the research she put into it. It is a worthy amendment. I fully support it.

We are concerned here with consumer protection and promoting consumers' interests. The consumer simply should not be forced into anything. The measure Senator Cox proposes to counter is an anti-consumer one. I totally agree with her. It is discriminatory. Consumers need choice. They must never be straight-jacketed. There are also rip-off charges, particularly in the case of credit card interest. Without labouring the point, I am fully supportive of this worthy amendment.