Members of the Oireachtas Finance Committee are expected to recommend that moneylending companies, such as the one at the centre of the Garda investigation into money laundering, should come under the remit of Ifsra, the financial services regulation authority.

During a public hearing to discuss its draft report on bank charges and interest rates, members also considered a series of other draft recommendations in the report, including a suggestion that Government should drop the stamp duty on bank cards, to make it cheaper for consumers to switch banks.

The draft report, which has yet to be adopted by the committee, finds that the Irish banking system is "relatively concentrated into a small number of powerful institutions and that there is insufficient competition between them and the other providers of financial services".

Other recommendations in the draft report, which has yet to be adopted by the committee, includes the publication by Ifsra of a league table of bank interest rate margins and bank charges, with comparison figures for other euro zone countries.

Yesterday, members who have been investigating the banking sector since mid 2003, pushed for the report to include a series of other recommendations and findings.

Labour Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the ongoing Garda investigation into money laundering which includes a Cork-based moneylending company, Chesterton, raised questions about the sector.

The directors of Chesterton include Mr Phil Flynn, the former trade union leader turned business consultant who resigned from a number of private and public sector posts last month after his involvement in the company became public.

Yesterday, Ms Burton said companies like Chesteron were unregulated and operated by giving loans at very high interest rates, to people who might not otherwise get loans, and with heavy charges on properties.

"I think they should be regulated in the context of the risk of money laundering to the whole country," she said.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the report should also recommend an increase in the maximum level of penalties that banks face if found by Ifrsra to be in breach of regulations. The current maximum at present is €5 million, which was "not a serious penalty at all".