Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Those are general statements, without going into the particulars or the details.

The situation is very much better than what happened to some of the other financial institutions around the State. The banking institutions just went out the back door and put an incredible burden on the country in terms of what everybody has had to sacrifice over that period. To put this in context, this is modest by comparison.

I wish to ask a general question about money that has been given by the Minister for Finance for restructuring which amounts to €250 million. I am sure that part of this question has been answered already. How much has already been spent and what is the expenditure estimate to the end of 2015? If this is out of proportion to what the needs are, it might create unnecessary fears among the membership generally and could therefore affect the public's engagement with credit unions.

Has there been an increase or a decrease in membership over recent years? Would that indicate whether we have had an appropriate response to the difficulties that were experienced by the credit unions themselves? My understanding is that Newbridge Credit Union was not a member of the Irish League of Credit Unions at all. Is that correct?

My general question concerns the amount that was provided by the State, how much has been drawn down, and the amount that is expected to be drawn down when the winding up, merger and restructuring proceedings are completed.