I welcome the opportunity of bringing to the Minister's attention the serious matter whereby financial institutions order the repossession of motor vehicles. One of my constituents had his car repossessed and his case is a good example of what happens.
My constituent purchased a pre-owned motor vehicle via the national papers by private treaty. He paid cash for the vehicle and received an official receipt. He completed the official motor registration change of ownership form and received the original and official tax book in which he was later registered as the owner. Like most ordinary innocent individuals my constituent was happy with his purchase. One can fully appreciate and understand his shock and horror when 11 months after he purchased his car it was taken from outside his home. However, that was only the start of his problems.
Once he got over the initial shock he went to his local Garda station to report the unauthorised taking of his vehicle. He was advised by the gardaí that his car had been repossessed by one of the leading banking institutions as there was an outstanding debt due on it and was told that he should contact them. I was astonished when this matter was brought to my attention. I rang the Garda station and asked them to record the unauthorised taking of the vehicle, which is exactly what happened. After that I contacted other Departments. It is not right that a person who purchases a motor vehicle in good faith and goes to the trouble, which many people do not, of completing the official motor registration change of ownership form so that he is registered as the owner, should have his car taken in this way.
One might say that there is an institution who can advise people on whether there is an outstanding hire purchase arrangement on a vehicle. All I can say to that is that my constituent was not aware of this. I wonder how many people are unaware of the existence of this institution which can give advice on such matters. One could pose the question: does this relate only to hire purchase arrangements? With the development of financial services, lease acquisitions and other financial arrangements I wonder if any institution would be able to say the exact arrangements made in regard to any motor vehicle.
I wish to quote from correspondence I received from Dublin Corporation's motor registration office which states:
The licensing authority is concerned with the registered ownership of a vehicle and not the legal ownership. A person in whose name a vehicle is registered may or may not be the legal owner of that vehicle. Ownership is defined in regulations as the person by whom the vehicle is kept.
I received a letter from the solicitor acting on behalf of the banking institution in which he stated:
We are instructed to advise our clients are the legal owners of the vehicle and purchased same for the purpose of leasing same to one of its customers.
I am concerned that innocent individuals who purchase pre-owned vehicles and receive an official registration book registered in the name of the person who is selling the vehicle can have their cars repossessed with the co-operation of the local gardaí. There are many questions I should like to ask in regard to this matter but I cannot do so in the time available to me. Legislation should be introduced to deal with this problem.
This issue has been brought to the attention of the general public by way of a popular radio show. Many people who have found themselves in the same position as my constituent phoned the presenter of this radio show to talk about their experiences. We should introduce legislation or bring in regulations to prevent such incidents. I ask that this very simple request be addressed by the Minister. The easiest way to deal with this problem would be to provide that the person who has legal ownership of the vehicle should be the registered owner. In this way one could easily find out if a banking institution has an interest in the vehicle. I look forward to hearing the Minister's reply.