Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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215. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of legislation to protect consumers on PCP. [43410/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of the review of the regulation of Personal Contracts Plans (PCPs), which I commissioned in 2018, Mr Michael Tutty produced a report entitled 'Review of the Regulation of PCPs' (available at: /).

The Tutty Report set out a number of conclusions and recommendations in relation to PCP agreements and, in particular, it recommended that the provisions of the Central Bank Consumer Protection Code which requires lenders to assess the suitability of the product for the consumer and also the ability of the borrower to repay the debt over the duration of the credit agreement should be extended to hire-purchase/PCP agreements.

The implementation of this particular recommendation to all the providers of hire purchase and PCP agreements will necessitate new legislation and I have obtained Government approval to draft a Bill to achieve this (see relevant press release attached: ). Officials in my Department are currently working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Central Bank of Ireland to prepare the legislation and it is the intention of Government to publish this Bill as soon as possible.