Derry MLA expresses concern after people turn to loan sharks

Local MLA Sinéad McLaughlin has urged struggling families to turn to community support for help, following a Spotlight investigation finding that paramilitary loan sharks are targeting food bank users.

Ms. McLaughlin said: “The reports that paramilitaries are targeting the users of food banks are deeply disturbing and sinister.

"The fact that these parasites are targeting people who are struggling to pay for basic essentials is disgraceful but unfortunately far too common in many communities across the North.

"During the cost-of-living crisis, more and more people are finding themselves in desperate positions and are being unthinkably exploited by these heinous criminals as they exert their coercive control across the North.

“The truth is that the failure by the British Government to deliver the energy support payment that is sorely needed, along with the DUP’s boycott of the Assembly, is directly contributing to these conditions. 

"To anyone who doesn’t know where to turn I would urge them not to engage with paramilitaries or money lenders.

"Nobody should have to suffer in silence and help is out there. 

"I am also of the firm conviction that the appropriate resources should be allocated to the ‘Ending the Harm’ campaign that helps to raise awareness of the control that paramilitaries exert over people, especially the most vulnerable.”