Terence Flanagan
Question:168. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance the action a person (details supplied) in Dublin 13 can take regarding their savings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6666/14]
View answerTuesday, 11 February 2014
Questions (168)
Written answers
The Central Bank has informed me that Home Payments Limited was not authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland ('Central Bank'). At the time Home Payments Limited was in operation, there was no regime in place targeting specifically the authorisation and supervision of businesses labelled "bill payment", "debt management" or "debt advice".
Eamonn Richardson of KPMG and Eamonn Leahy of Leahy & Co were appointed by the High Court as joint liquidators to Home Payments Limited on 24th August 2011. The liquidators took control of the company to secure all assets, records and bank accounts and contacted customers regarding repayment of any funds owed to them by Home Payments Limited. Individuals who suffered losses through their dealings with Home Payments Limited should contact the liquidators for information on the repayment process.
I, as Minister for Finance have no statutory role in relation to the resolution of the liquidation of this company.
The Government is not in a position to compensate clients of this company for losses incurred due to the liquidation.
The Deputy may be aware that, since the liquidation of that company, a new regulatory regime for debt management firms has been put in place under Section 59 of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.
A debt management firm is defined as "a person who for remuneration provides debt management services to one or more consumers, other than an excepted person".
'Debt management services' are defined in the legislation as"(a) giving advice about the discharge of debts (in whole or in part), including advice about budgeting in connection with the discharge of debts,(b) negotiating with a person's creditors for the discharge of the person's debts (in whole or in part), or(c) any similar activity associated with the discharge of debts."
Where debt management firms propose to receive client funds and make payments on behalf of clients to their creditors they may require a payment institution authorisation under the European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations 2009 or a money transmission business authorisation under Part V of the Central Bank Act 1997 (as amended) depending on their business model. It is under these regimes that the appropriate protection for client funds is provided for.