Mr. Ronan Hession:

The Deputy's point is an important one. In October 2011, the Minister made a statement on the floor of the Seanad at a time of great uncertainty. There were a lot of international eyes on Ireland at the time, so I would not underestimate the extent to which people outside Ireland still watch what happens with Irish credit unions. They still see it as part of the financial system and, now that the banking system is starting to normalise, they want to know that there is not some unfinished business - especially given the level of penetration in Ireland.

The Deputy asked about membership figures and Ireland has by far the highest penetration of credit union membership anywhere in the world.