Mr. Ed Farrell:

Deposits are the preference of the Central Bank but the unions are allowed to put some of the money in a bond if the bond is fully guaranteed by the bank. It is almost the same as a deposit. The unions would not have been allowed to buy the types of bonds that might not get repaid. In theory, if the banks went under, as happened, and were not guaranteed - thankfully they were - there would have been a problem. All the credit union money that was typically in the Irish banks was safe because of the guarantee. We cannot buy equities or shares in the banks. It is a question of deposits or guaranteed bonds, which are almost like deposits. They would have a fixed maturity and one is guaranteed to get one’s money back. Credit unions are not designed or set up to engage in risky lending or investment decisions. We are comfortable about the fact we do not do the risky stuff but we do not count this scenario as any way risky because of the Government repayment.