Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief because I think Deputy Ó Broin has covered nearly everything we need to say about this issue. We are hugely frustrated regarding why it has taken so long to get this money into the market. As a State, we have clearly said that we are moving more towards approved housing bodies to deliver the social housing stock, yet there is capacity to give them more funds and we are not availing of it. Deputy Ó Broin has asked the questions that need to be asked: what is delaying this, when will it be sorted out and when will the money be available for approved housing bodies or other associations to deliver housing? The final paragraph of Mr. Carville's presentation states that the credit unions have increased their gross lending by 6%, and perhaps this will continue. Is he telling us he is looking at this in a negative way and that the credit unions coming out of the situation they were in are now beginning to see a positive sign of their investment coming back? In light of that, he might be looking at a smaller parcel of their portfolio being made available in this market.