Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is with great regret that, yet again, Private Members' Bill No. 3 for me, is going down the tubes. Of all the Bills I initiated, this is the one where there was the least excuse not to accept it. I thank all Members for their commendations. As a former Ceann Comhairle in the other House who was a member of the Labour Party famously said when he was retiring some years ago, I wanted to kick myself to ascertain whether I was still alive, as one Member after another, Ministers included, got up to commend him. I do not wish to be commended. I abhor how we all commend ourselves in the Seanad. I said that last week in the context of amendments to motions and how Governments commend themselves. I said it when I was on the other side of the House also. I could not stand it.

We want progress on the issue. First and foremost, I disagree with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, who was contradictory in his statements on the existing legislation. I accept that legislation exists in the area and while similar, this Bill creates a new offence. I disagree that the merging of what happens to be aspects of other laws will in any way obscure the law. Everyone admitted that the problem is that people are afraid to come forward. The very essence of what I am trying to do is to provide protection for people by putting in place the specific offence of illegal moneylending in conjunction with demanding with menace. While the measure is similar to section 26 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, it is specifically to ensure that a person could go to court to have it make an order to the effect that the person who lent the money but was demanding with menace must stay away from him or her.

I do not refer to an aspect of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 where as a condition of bail, someone must stay away from someone else. My aim is specifically that the victim of the person who lent money, who is demanding money with menace, is beating one up, breaking one’s windows and harassing one every day or has in his or her possession one’s children’s allowance book - whatever the case is - would be protected by the Bill, even in the event of no conviction being secured. That does not happen currently. The statistics clearly speak for themselves. There have been no convictions. All speakers said that people are afraid. Sadly, despite the Minister extolling a different opinion, that he welcomes Private Members’ Bills, the reality is that he is clutching at straws in denying the merits of this one. He spoke about the merging of two similar pieces of legislation-----