Mr. Kevin Johnson:

I thank the Chairman and the committee but in particular Deputies Penrose, Fitzmaurice and Eugene Murphy for their very appreciative support for credit unions. I would not like that to go unnoticed. It is very much-needed and appreciated.

I have to address Deputy Penrose first. If I have come across to him as defensive, I would appreciate the opportunity to rectify that now. Please do not mistake the emotion of defensiveness for frustration. The frustration is that we need to accelerate this. We are all on the same page and identify the same needs. We share the same social and economic objectives. In the credit unions, we have the capital, the funding available for lending, the infrastructure and a broad range of services and we want to do more. If we are told where those gaps are, we will address them. We know there will be regulatory obstacles but help us to deal with those.

Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned the limits. He will be glad to know that the agri-product that is there is up to €75,000.

I mentioned earlier about the consultation that is going on. We have all worked hard to get the consultation on the table. It is looking at the basis of how those limits are calculated. Again, it is a great opportunity to convince the Central Bank that we know what we are doing collectively and individually.