Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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266. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 116 of 19 November 2025, how long discretionary commission arrangements were a feature of the motor hire purchase finance market prior to the practice being stopped in July 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66887/25]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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267. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated number of active motor finance hire purchase agreements (including personal contract purchase agreements) in operation in the market today; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66907/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 266 and 267 together.

The Central Bank of Ireland has advised that, at the point in time during which it conducted its review in 2024, there were 135,000 customers who had active hire purchase agreements that were subject to discretionary commission arrangements.

These agreements were held either with retail banks, retail credit firms or with transitional retail credit firms (i.e. firms availing of the transitional provisions the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2022).

The review did not analyse the time period over which these agreements were in place.

Subsequent to its review, the Central Bank wrote in June 2024 to all regulated firms providing hire purchase motor finance who may have used discretionary commission arrangements in relation to such finance arranged through credit intermediaries instructing them to cease the practice by end-July 2024.

The Central Bank has further advised that it does not publish data in relation to the number of active motor finance hire purchase agreements in operation in the market today.