Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2017
202. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Finance the level of car loan indebtedness, in particular personal contract plan car loans; the value and number of such loans in each of the years 2014 to 2016, inclusive, and to date in 2017, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38617/17]
View answerI have been advised by the Central Bank that the Bank does not have figurers in relation to the level of car loan indebtedness and in particular personal contract plans (PCP) in the format requested by the Deputy.
However the Bank has informed me that loans extended by credit institutions to private households for the purpose of car finance would be included under Consumer Credit in the monthly Table A.1 of the Credit and Banking Statistics. This table would also include hire purchase and PCP agreements provided by Irish resident banks. Full details are available at https://www.centralbank.ie/statistics/data-and-analysis/credit-and-banking-statistics/bank-balance-sheets/bank-balance-sheets-data.
Loans extended by credit institutions to private households for car finance purposes would be included in the quarterly dataset; “Finance for other Purposes” in Table A.18 – “Credit advanced to and Deposits from Irish Private Households”. Full details are available at https://www.centralbank.ie/statistics/data-and-analysis/credit-and-banking-statistics/private-household-credit-and-deposits
On the issue more generally, the CCPC has conducted research into the car market and car finance sectors, and has conducted numerous public awareness campaigns on the issue of car finance in recent years. Its most recent campaign, which ran in June/July 2017, focused on car finance and was specifically aimed at providing information to consumers on issues in relation to PCPs, such as the fact that the consumer does not become the legal owner of the car until they make the final payment.
On 17 July the CCPC announced that it had commenced a study of the PCP car finance market. I have been informed that the CCPC’s study is examining the experiences of consumers and assessing the information provided to them at the point-of-sale. The study will also analyse consumers’ understanding of PCPs, the structure of the product, the options available to consumers at the end of the agreement, and the protections available to PCP consumers under the existing legislative framework. I await the outcome of the study.
