Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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61. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to strengthen legislation to deal with illegal moneylenders as requested by the Society of St Vincent de Paul; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39748/14]

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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80. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to ensure there is more transparency regarding moneylender charges and profits and that a proper payment schedule be outlined by the lender including a cooling off period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39742/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 61 and 80 together.

Under the current legislative requirements, moneylenders must provide a schedule of repayments both prior to and during the credit agreement. Each licensed moneylender is also required to display a copy of its licence in its business premises. The licence contains a schedule of each product which the moneylender is entitled to offer, together with details of the related cost per €100 borrowed, the collection charge (if applicable) and the APRC. Moneylenders are not permitted to charge an additional fee for late or missed payments.

The protections of a cooling off period are also in place for consumers of licensed moneylenders in Ireland, under Regulation 17 of the European Communities Consumer Credit Agreements Regulations, 2010. A consumer may, within 14 calendar days after the relevant day...., withdraw from a credit agreement without giving any reason. 

Moneylenders are subject to a range of transparency and disclosure requirements. The Central Bank's recent research on the moneylending industry highlighted that the majority of consumers understand the cost of credit, Annual Percentage Rate of Charge and amount of interest on their loans. Measures taken by the Central Bank to increase transparency and clarity (such as including the cost of a loan per €100 borrowed on the moneylenders licence) aim to increase consumer awareness with regard to costs.

I have no plans at present to change the legislation which deals with moneylenders. The enforcement of this legislation in relation to illegal moneylenders is a matter for An Garda Síochána and I would urge anyone with information about the operation of unlicensed moneylenders to make the information available to the Garda Síochána, whose duty it is to enforce the law in this area.