Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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254. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which financial institutions, which do not take deposits, are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24935/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Effective from 1 February 2008, the Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for the authorisation and supervision of Retail Credit Firms.  Retail Credit Firms are authorised to provide credit, in the form of cash loans, directly to individuals, but are not licensed to accept deposits. Some firms authorised in this category are mortgage lenders. 

In light of their activities, Retail Credit Firms are not subject to the same prudential supervisory regime as licensed credit institutions. However, the same consumer protection framework applies to Retail Credit Firms as to all other regulated lenders, including the Central Bank of Ireland's Consumer Protection Code, the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and the Code of Conduct for Lending to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.  

I have been informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that it uses a number of methods to monitor compliance with consumer protection requirements such as themed inspections, general reviews on a particular topic, market intelligence and the monitoring of financial services advertising.