Mr. Kevin Johnson:

It is very challenging. There should be a healthy tension in the relationship between the regulator and the regulated. The key is that it is healthy. The Central Bank stated the credit union sector was the one with the highest level of engagement. If that is an offer to us to choose our level of engagement, we will take it. We would opt to reduce our level of engagement if we had the choice. We are, however, respectful of the role the Central Bank has to play. It is critical, but we need it to be more constructive. It has certainly improved, but we need to see it continue to improve. There is a responsibility on credit unions and their representative bodies to put ideas and proposals to the regulators in this area. We have become better at taking advantage of what the rules permit today, not necessarily having looked at them in the past. This equips us to better present our case to the Central Bank, with home loans being a perfect example. We have demonstrated that credit unions can provide them prudently and serve segments of the market that are not being served.

The three bodies represented had a considerable input into the CUAC review, which led to a very thorough report highlighting a lot of the things that had not been delivered. An implementation group, in which we, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance participate, was set up and we are working through the issues. I share Deputy Doherty's concerns about timing and the pace at which things move. We made a thorough and detailed submission on longer term lending in November last year and hope the consultation paper will come out in the next few days. As the Deputy said, there will be another extended period before we see regulations.