Mr. Seamus Maye:

We must remember we are a very small country with a little more than 4.5 million people. We cannot go about reinventing the wheel. It is our view in the Public Banking Forum Ireland that the public banking and Sparkassen model is badly needed in Ireland but it will not fly logistically or politically unless the credit unions have a key role to play. Public banking services can be rolled out through credit unions, subject to their agreement, and keep the cost base down. This would make use of the existing credit union movement and its strong association with people on the ground. It is very important. We do not have 10 million, 20 million or 100 million people and we are tiny in comparison, so we must tailor this both politically and logistically to what will work.