Mr. Ed Farrell:

In our opening address we gave examples of where political willingness and willing partners worked with the personal microcredit scheme. On social housing, we gave an example, albeit it was Government policy, of an ask from Government for credit union funding to be made available for social housing and a willingness on our behalf to engage with that. It was the 2014 report to which the president referred. Almost three years later, we are frustrated at the lack of a way of getting that done. We need the Departments of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and Finance, the Central Bank and the various arms of the State to figure out a way to get this social housing proposal done, which is Government policy. The credit unions have stepped up to the plate, as it were. Many regulatory requirements were placed on credit unions in the 2012 legislation following the commission report and everyone acknowledges, including the CUAC report from last July, that the governance regime in credit unions in Ireland now is as good as it is in any credit union movement anywhere in the world. Credit unions have stood up but to go back to Mr. Johnson's point on the investments and the lending side of the equation, the rules behind the business side of the house and the balance sheets have not been moved in the expected manner. There is a huge degree of frustration among credit union people about that. They have done the hard work. At all times we encouraged the arms of the State to get together to find the channels and unlock any blockages to get these very important projects for the people of Ireland moving across the line.