Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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18. To ask the Minister for Finance the statutory duty of the Central Bank in the event of a consumer experiencing, and informing the Central Bank of, two breaches of Part IX, subsection 129(2) of the Consumer Credit Act 1995, as amended, and SI 128/1996, by a lending institution in the context of a housing loan, with supporting evidence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61055/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank’s consumer protection mandate is prescribed in the Central Bank Act 1942 and includes the ‘proper and effective regulation of financial institutions and markets, while ensuring that consumers of financial services are protected’.  Under the 1942 Act, the Central Bank’s functions include ‘monitoring the provision of financial services to consumers of those services to the extent that the Bank considers appropriate, for the purposes of protecting the public interest and the interest of consumers'. 

The Central Bank assures me that all information in relation to a customer experience with a financial service provider or allegations of breaches of legal or regulatory requirements received by the Bank are considered and reviewed in the course of its supervisory work in the context of its consumer protection mandate.  

In determining whether to take any enforcement action in respect of issues within the Central Bank’s remit, whether on a regulatory or criminal basis, the Central Bank assesses all of the relevant circumstances and legal issues in accordance with its statutory function and mandate.  The magnitude, gravity, and systemic prevalence of any given issue are considered by the Central Bank in determining whether to take enforcement action in respect of an issue or not.  Pursuant to its strict statutory obligations of confidentiality, the Central Bank is prohibited from disclosing details regarding these considerations and decisions.

While the Central Bank is the competent authority under the Consumer Credit Act 1995, the Act does not require the Central Bank to prosecute if there has been a suspected contravention of section 129(2) of that Act.  The 1995 Act provides that contraventions of certain provisions of the Act, including Section 129(2), may be prosecuted by the Central Bank.  However, as with the Central Bank’s other enforcement powers, the Central Bank retains a discretion regarding the exercise of this power.