Rise of moneylenders - Regulator must impose rate ceiling

AS Finance Minister Brian Lenihan prepares to play Scrooge with a vengeance this Christmas, hitting low earners and social welfare recipients in the harshest budget in decades, the appalling vista is that charities combating poverty will be hit by a tsunami of requests for aid and more people will be driven into the clutches of moneylenders.

The outlook could hardly be darker. Plunged into financial crisis for the first time in their lives, Ireland’s new poor are struggling to make ends meet. There are 450,000 unemployed workers on the Live Register, with little hope of getting a job.

Some 36,500 people behind on their mortgage payments live in fear of losing their homes. Their plight was typified recently by a couple that asked the High Court to repossess their home as quickly as possible so they could apply for council housing.