Having listened to the Minister, I am not at all happy that it is necessary to have this measure even though the law has stood largely as it was passed by Grattan's Parliament. The Minister made the point that the number of pawnbroking establishments has been declining and related that to higher wage rates and better standards of living. He went on to say that he thinks there is still room for the special useful services which pawnbrokers provide.
I have not had experience with pawnbrokers. Every Monday morning when I am going to work I see women carrying bundles of clothes into pawnbroking establishments. I do not consider that that is a particularly useful function or service. It seems to me that what we are embarking on here is making certain that the business of pawnbroking will continue. We are easing what the Minister refers to as the very onerous requirements in regard to the pawnbroking business. We are allowing some financial easement to them by increasing the rates of interest and abolishing certain levies which they have to pay to the local authorities here in Dublin.
I am, therefore, left wondering whether the reduction in the number of pawnbrokers is due to what the Minister says it is, the rising wage rates or the fact that it is not a very remunerative business at the present time. This is what the Minister now proposes to amend in the Bill. I do not accept at all that this is a particularly useful and worthwhile element of modern society.
I should like this business to disappear altogether. I am against a situation where, by easing the present onerous requirements, we are encouraging the continuation of this type of business. I am not saying anything against pawnbrokers personally. I am sure they are all respectable people. I do not like to see this business of pawnbroking at all. I do not accept the Minister's contention that they provide a very useful service and that there will still be room for them in future for the special loan facilities they provide.
I do not consider it is a good thing to see women going along with bundles of clothes to these establishments on Monday morning. We should not be proud of it and the proper way of dealing with this situation is by proper social services, proper home assistance, proper guidance to these people, a proper standard of living and proper housing and not by providing pawnbroking services.
I do not like pawnbroking and I am sure there are many Senators in this House who, equally, do not like this sort of business. It may be good fun for the students. It may be part of their life to hock things. I am not concerned about that. I am concerned about the poor people I see every Monday morning going to the pawnbroking establishments. It is not a good thing and we should not be facilitating this sort of business. We should not enable it to continue by making it more rewarding. We should not accept the Minister's suggestion that they still have a useful function to perform in this modern age. I do not see it as such and I am opposed to this Bill.
