Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree. We have a housing crisis and it is sad that we are nearly one year on from the launch of Rebuilding Ireland but we still need to build houses. The credit unions are there and we always associate credit unions with being part of our community. I do not think there is anybody in the country who does not use the credit union. I was a little bit taken aback when Mr. Sibley said "we have encountered limited financial skill sets and weak management, poor systems of control, weak risk, compliance and internal audit functioning and weaknesses in lending practices". I believe this is the way to go in the future because we are in a housing crisis and it is crucial that money and funding come through the programmes. Yesterday the committee met housing bodies such as Clúid, Respond! and other co-operative housing groups. Everybody is either trying to buy or build houses and timing is crucial. As Mr. Sibley noted, the Central Bank of Ireland has received 70 submissions. I understand that Mr. Sibley has outlined the three areas of concern, namely, the current position of and main challenges facing credit unions, regulations and potential for credit unions to provide finance for social housing. Overall, however, the bigger picture is that funding is there and people are crying out for houses. Everything must be regulated, and rightly so as that is how it should be, but this is a way to help people who are in need of housing. Working with the credit unions and working together is a way to solve a problem that needs to be solved. It is, again, about timing. Can we have the timing for this? I have concerns about some of the report from Mr. Sibley. It was my first time to read it and I have concerns about what he said.

Perhaps Mr. Sibley could give us more information on these concerns. There is also the issue of timing. What exactly is the timescale from 28 June with regard to the 70 submissions? Who exactly will the witnesses meet? When do they think a decision will be made? Timing is everything.