Loan shark scourge must be tackled

Being caught in the poverty trap becomes even more accentuated on special occasions or special times of the year, the Christmas period being chief among them.

Therefore, two problems which, unfortunately, are not just seasonal ones but permanent issues, were raised yesterday and, by their very nature, demand to be addressed.

One is the invidious activity of illegal money-lenders and some legal ones who extract exorbitant interest rates from cash-strapped people forced by their circumstances to resort to them for loans.

The second is that of child begging, which is on the increase in Ireland, notably among Romany children.

In the first instance, there is a report about money-lenders, both legal and illegal, charging huge interest rates, and while the report relates to Waterford, the problem is not confined to that city.

People who are desperate enough, especially at this time of year because of commercial pressure, incur interest rates of anything between 130% and 200%. Consequently, they are trapped in the clutches of those unconscionable predators for the foreseeable future.

It is not just a seasonal problem and, because of the high cost of living in this country, people who move into housing estates, local authority ones in the case of Waterford, are their targets.

In too many cases, they are easy prey, for the simple reason they cannot turn to normal lending institutions because they will not be entertained.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous legal and illegal money-lenders ready to capitalise on their straitened circumstances, and who are totally indifferent to the intolerable misery they cause.

The perverse fact is that very little, if anything, can be done to close down these activities. The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which is responsible for monitoring money lending, has admitted as much.

They point to the fact that tackling illegal money lending is the responsibility of the gardaí and although it has established a base for lending rates, there is no fixed ceiling for anyone who wants to lend money if licensed to do so.

The Money Advice and Budgeting Board (MABS) can offer invaluable advice to people on how to extricate themselves from this financial tyranny, and, indeed, how to avoid it in the first place. However, their help must be sought and only by taking that first step can the victims begin to solve their difficulties.

It would be a logical corollary that the gardaí should conduct an aggressive campaign against proven illegal money-lenders and those extorting unaffordable lending rates from their quarries.

But, because of the murky world they operate in and the tactics they can employ against their victims, that is easier said than done. However, it cannot and should not be impossible, because they simply cannot be allowed to flout the law. It is not acceptable that individuals, or companies, be a law unto themselves, more especially when they wreak havoc with the lives of others.

Insofar as child begging on the streets is concerned, the answer should not be as intangible.

According to the annual report of Leanbh, a service by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to protect children who beg, while their number is rising, the number of begging Traveller children has fallen by 22%.

Although that indicates that the problem is being addressed in some measure, there should be no need for children to be allowed, or sent, onto the streets to beg.

Part of the problem in relation to Romany children being on the streets is that they are caught in a dilemma. They are turned away from schools because they do not speak English, so are in a catch-22 situation.

Leanbh is endeavouring to teach English to as many as it can, but if further resources will help to keep vulnerable children off the streets, they should be provided.