Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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44. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the regulatory position surrounding personal contract plans used to purchase motor vehicles; if he has further satisfied himself with the current roles of the Central Bank and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in relation to PCPs; the complaints process for a customer in relation to PCPs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31246/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Personal Contract Plans (PCP) are a form of Hire Purchase and both the Central Bank and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) have certain functions and legal powers in relation to the provision of hire-purchase agreements.

While hire-purchase providers are not required to be authorised by the Central Bank, they are subject to a number of legislative and regulatory requirements supervised by the Central Bank and listed in Schedule 2 to the Central Bank Act 1942.  In addition, to the extent that an entity is a 'regulated financial service provider', the powers in the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 and the administrative sanctions procedure will apply.

The CCPC is responsible under the Consumer Credit Act 1995, for the authorisation of credit intermediaries, some of whom may sell PCPs to consumers on behalf of a finance company. A "credit intermediary" is defined as "a person...who in the course of his business arranges or offers to arrange for a consumer the provision of credit or the letting of goods in return for a commission, payment or consideration of any kind from the provider of the credit or the owner, as the case may be". 

The CCPC provides licenses to credit intermediaries and keeps an online list of credit intermediaries holding a valid authorisation which is available on the CCPC website www.ccpc.ie. The CCPC also deals with complaints about the advertising of Credit Agreements and the advertising of car finance on credit intermediary websites and in the media.

The CCPC has a specific statutory remit to provide personal finance information and education to assist consumers. In this regard the CCPC has conducted research into the car market and car finance, and conducted numerous public awareness campaigns on the issue of car finance. Its current campaign, which commenced on 5 June, focuses on car finance and specifically aims to provide information to consumers on issues in relation to PCPs, such as the fact that the consumer does not become the legal owner of the car until they make the final payment.  The CCPC plans to conduct further research into PCPs in the second half of this year.

If a consumer has concerns regarding the activities of credit intermediaries, they may wish to contact the CCPC. The Financial Services Ombudsman can also investigate complaints from individual consumers about credit intermediaries.