THE FINE Gael spokesman on justice has published a Private Members’ Bill to regulate debt collecting, claiming the area is open to criminal abuse.
Charlie Flanagan said people who owed money had come to him claiming to have been threatened by well-known criminals, that their property had been vandalised and assaults had taken place.
“Ireland has no system of regulation of debt collectors, unlike many EU countries,” he said.
“As a result, anyone can set up a debt collection agency and there are no rules as to how they should operate. It is well know that criminal elements have infiltrated this industry and it’s becoming a very profitable business for some.
“In the present economic climate, more and more ordinary people are finding themselves in financial difficulty. Widespread job losses have created financial black holes that people are desperate to fill.”
While threats, assaults and damage to property were criminal offences, many people were afraid to go to the Garda because of the nature of the threats, he said. The State therefore needed to address the problem by vetting prospective debt collectors, licensing operators and providing a complaints mechanism for debtors.
The Central Bank and Financial Authority of Ireland (Protection of Debtors) Bill would, if enacted, regulate debt collectors, obliging them to register with the Financial Regulator and be vetted by An Garda Síochána before they can operate in Ireland as a licensee, retrieving both consumer and commercial debt, he said.
The Private Members’ Bill provides for a debt collector regulator under the remit of the Financial Regulator.