Dublin South West TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, called for urgent action to tackle what he described as \u2018disgraceful\u2019 interest rates being charged by licensed moneylenders.<\/p>\n
The Sinn F\u00e9in TD was speaking in the D\u00e1il on legislation introduced by his party to cap the rate at which money lenders can charge interest on loans.<\/p>\n
Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a reflection of how unequal Ireland is in 2018 that people are being forced to go to moneylenders and, in some cases, illegal moneylenders, to try and get a loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cSinn F\u00e9in previously introduced this legislation in 2012 and it was voted down. I pointed out the urgency of the Bill then and I am thinking about the number of families that have been destroyed in that six-year period.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe interest rates we currently see being charged in this market \u2013 such as 100% and 200% – are simply wrong. They are morally wrong and they should be illegal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the people who go to these lenders. It is the desperate, the poor and credit-starved individuals who are out of their minds with money worries who are forced to use moneylenders. I do not think anyone who has an alternative goes to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these people are out of work. They are the low-paid, the marginalised, the disadvantaged, and those who have little or really bad credit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business of these so-called moneylenders is booming. Their exorbitant interest rates need to be regulated and targeted now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese loans keep people in a cycle of poverty. For many it is a way of life. That is the sad thing. The people who are pushed into using these moneylenders are cash-poor. They have to borrow for joyous occasions as well as for sad occasions. We know of the weddings, births and communions but they also have to borrow for deaths or for crises in the family such as a family member getting sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are straight after September when kids go back to school and now we are into Christmas and all the pressure it puts on families. For many this time of the year is filled with worry and stress for the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalised. We cannot just hope that people will not use these moneylenders. We need to act as legislators and to regulate them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Crowe continued<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is only part of the solution, we also have to have alternative \u00a0borrowing routes. One of them is the Credit Union movement, which has 255 branches across the State. They are in a perfect position to provide small loans for people. That needs to be publicised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is the micro credit loan or the new “It Makes Sense Loan” from the Credit Union which offers small loans and much lower interest rates to borrowers. There is a wide coverage for these loans but it is not available across all Credit Unions yet. These loans have a maximum interest rate of 12%, and the loans offered are under \u20ac2,000. They are currently aimed at those in receipt of social welfare, but this needs to be looked at and discretion applied.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dublin South West TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, called for urgent action to tackle what he described as \u2018disgraceful\u2019 interest rates being charged by licensed moneylenders. The Sinn F\u00e9in TD was speaking in the D\u00e1il on legislation introduced by his party to cap the rate at which money lenders can charge interest on loans. Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moneylenders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3668,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3667\/revisions\/3668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}