Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to broaden the perspectives on these issues, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Molan and even Ms O'Connor - forgive me, we have not included her in the interaction yet. We are trying to get a better understanding of this. As I said, it is still about the gaps that exist. Mr. McCrory has already articulated a gap in respect of CP88 and spoken about the indefinite delays in the holding of AGMs. What the average member wants to know is why this is the case. How do we close this gap? The theme of the registrar's speech was "Mind the Gap". She referred to:

- Your current v. your needed level of regulatory compliance. Given some of the issues we have found in recent supervisory engagements, I could characterize this as "Mind the basics", and

- the sector's current business model and capability, and the ambitious proposed or evolving business models, which often carry very much different risks and capabilities.

There is then still a massive gap between how the registrar perceives the Credit Union Managers Association and how the organisation perceives itself. Somewhere in between, we are trying to see if we can broker or mediate that gap, and in broad terms there seems to be a long way to go. On the face of it, the registrar seems, if I am reading the speech correctly, to put a major limit on the issue of the payment accounts and debit cards. She seems to suggest a major curbing of one's enthusiasm, for want of a better expression, in respect of long-term lending. She is very reticent, if I interpret her correctly - and she will have a chance to respond to these comments on Thursday - on the investment in social housing.

In addition, I have a difficulty understanding the issues regarding section 35. No review has yet been undertaken, even though we are technically out of recession, on the section 35 rescheduling restrictions because individual impacted members - and this is based on anecdotal evidence - are back in work and have continuing borrowing requirements in excess of the emergency amounts allowed under the regulations. Again, the question on my mind is whether it takes a legislative change to amend this or whether a cultural change is needed within the Central Bank to broker that. I hope that makes sense.