Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. It is unsavoury and inappropriate, to say the least.

On a more minor issue, I was glad to read this morning that on-street chuggers - charity muggers, those people who collect for charities by using inventive measures, to put it mildly, to ask people on the street for direct debits - will be subject to new regulations under which they will be required to hold permits. Permits are required on the streets of Dublin for far less, including busking. Where a person is handing over banking details to someone on the street, it is appropriate that the transaction be regulated to some extent. Charities would welcome this, as would I, given the fact that I called for it approximately two years ago.