Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was not scheduled to speak tonight. When I saw that the Bill was scheduled to be debated I decided to add my voice here because it is such an important issue. I may not always agree with Senator MacSharry but I give him great credit for bringing the matter into the political arena.

Moneylending exists, whether we like it or not. I spoke during the debate on domestic violence which is a taboo subject. Moneylending is also a taboo subject. People will not admit that they borrow from moneylenders. People approach public representatives when they want help but, normally, they will not admit to borrowing from moneylenders. Illegal moneylenders prey on the underprivileged, the unemployed and the socially deprived. They are the people who can least afford to meet exorbitant repayments.

I lived in a local authority estate once. I remember a company, and I shall not name names, arriving in the estate and started off by offering a hire purchase option to enable people to buy little items of clothing for their children or household goods. The company then offered money to people to pay the costs of a first communion or confirmation ceremony even when people did not seek it out. On many occasions the woman of the house, either the wife or partner, borrowed the money but never told their husbands or partners. The women were put under fierce financial pressure to pay the loan back without the knowledge of their husbands or partners. Of course a borrower was never allowed to clear the loan. As Senator O'Donovan said, one would be about to pay it all off when one would have to borrow for something else or robbed Peter to pay Paul. A person would end up owing money all of the time.

One does not have to approach legal moneylenders for loans. We have all seen television advertisements for credit cards but the small print states that the interest charged can range between a whopping 34% and 38%. However, people do not take much notice of the small print and apply for a card anyway. One pays a lot for the privilege to use the cards.

I congratulate Senator MacSharry for heightening awareness of moneylending. It does no harm to talk about the problem. People have been harassed, bullied and threatened by illegal moneylenders. They will not come forward to lodge a complaint because they are physically afraid and fear for their lives. Every day television programmes warn about moneylending and the lengths that moneylenders will go to in order to make people pay.

I must say, and I purposely allowed this to happen, I signed a contract to buy a dongle for my computer. Last February, I rang the company to cancel the contract but was informed that I had to give one month's notice which I agreed to do. In March I left my direct debt stand and in April I cancelled it thinking that I was finished with the matter. I then received a telephone from a reputable company claiming I owed money for March. I informed them that I had paid by direct debit but the person on the other end of the line was horrible to me. He was so obnoxious that I refused to deal with him and asked to speak to his supervisor. Unfortunately, he was no better. By the way, both men were not Irish people. Even though the company is based in Ireland one must speak to a foreign person when dealing with such matters. The supervisor did not treat me any better because he told me that I was trying to avoid paying a bill of €14. As a result I decided to let the bill run to see what would happen. Every day since I have had three telephone calls from the company seeking €14. I have no problem paying €14 and can afford to pay the sum. I wanted to get a feel of what it is like to be harassed and to owe money. I can now identify with people who have been harassed. I said to my husband that if a company is willing to pursue me like that for €14 what will it do when a person owes €14,000 or mortgage money. Obviously I will pay the €14 or I shall be listed as a bad debtor. The company has stopped ringing me in the past few days. I presume that it will start sending me court letters so I had better pay the sum. All of the Senators would talk about me if I was put on a list of debtors.