Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 21 and 22 seek to make provision for debt collectors and debt collection services. As the Minister for Finance, I have no responsibility for the regulation of debt collectors and debt collecting firms. Debt collection services apply across a significantly wider range of activities than the recovery of money for financial products, for example, in the case of utilities, rents, other consumer debts and debts between businesses. The Minister for Justice and Equality is responsible for legislation in this regard, namely, the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997, which applies to all debt collectors that operate across any or all sectors of the economy, including private individuals and debt collecting firms. Under section 11 of that Act, it is an offence to demand payment of a debt in a way that is designed to cause alarm, distress or humiliation. A person found guilty of offences under the Act is subject to large fines and up to 14 years imprisonment.

In the case of financial institutions that use debt collection firms, which is the point addressed by Senator Michael D'Arcy, the Central Bank has imposed requirements that offer protection to consumers under its revised consumer protection code. The code obliges the regulated entities that it covers to ensure that any outsourced activity, such as debt collection, complies with the requirements of the code. This means that outsourced activity should uphold principles in the code, such as the requirement for institutions not to exert undue pressure or undue influence on a customer, to act honestly, fairly and professionally in the best interests of customers, to act with due skill, care and diligence in the best interest of its customers, and to prohibit personal visits or oral communications except in specified circumstances.

Similarly, there are provisions in the Central Bank's consumer protection code that provide protections for consumers in respect of the debt collection activities of licensed moneylenders, including where they outsource this function to a third party. For the reasons that I have outlined, I do not propose to take on board the amendments proposed by Senator Reilly. However, I will communicate her views and those of Senator Michael D'Arcy, particularly the suggestion regarding further strictures on third parties hired to collect debt by financial institutions. Everyone in public life knows that there is concern about this issue and that the law, while strong, is not always upheld. Nor are the sanctions that follow always imposed. I will ask the Central Bank to re-examine the matter.