IN THE wake of a major multi-agency operation targeting organised crime and illegal moneylending in the Mid West region, we should be mindful the innocent and desperate who turn to the moneylenders to maintain some form of financial grip on life.
The early morning raids in Kilrush led to 11 arrests as Gardaí targeted a criminal gang that has preyed on the vulnerable who borrowed anything from €100 to €500 to fund their meagre needs.
But Kilrush is no different to Limerick or any part of the country where the criminal network casts its net to snare those most in need.
Criminal gangs illegally lend €100 and expect a family to repay up to four or five times that amount the following week.
Failure to pay these debts would lead to home invasions by thugs taking possessions in part payment.
Notwithstanding the extensive Garda investigation efforts, the problem will persist.
With just three short weeks to Christmas, struggling families will turn to all and any method to fund the financial demands of a season that’s growing ever more commercial.
Many local charities notice an increase in those who unexpectedly find themselves on the bread line. Support groups highlight the plight of the homeless and all while the loan shark waits in the murky waters of illegal moneylending.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that a large number of households in the disadvantaged areas avail of “services” from loan sharks.
This questions the support network that should be in place for the most vulnerable members of society.
To outlaw illegal money lending, you must create and supply a sustainable support network. To create and supply a sustainable support network, you must not attack the must vulnerable by cutting the very allowances they need to survive.
Efforts to provide practical solutions have not yielded the desired or much needed result in the recent past.
The time is ripe for Government to focus on the support network and, in turn, eradicate the illegal enterprise of those who prey on those most needy among us.
