Mr. Ed Farrell:

The result of the survey that CUAC carried out was that slightly less than half of members of credit unions said they would like this flexibility, while slightly more than half of assets said they would like it. It is coming through them that the Minister is comfortable to bring it forward on the basis that it gives flexibility to some credit unions which are losing substantial amounts of money on this small piece of their business. It gives them the flexibility to not be subsidising it on the micro-credit loans or maybe to come into that and try and get more credit unions to formally come on board with that lending project. It is not that credit unions are looking for an increase, per se. They were asked if they would like it as an option and the results are not conclusive, they are half and half. They will be offered it and will not be made go there. They can still charge 1% interest, or less, if they wish or they can charge a little more if they wish. This is certainly only a conversation about a small piece of their lending, given the levels of interest rates. Who knows where they are going to go with debit and credit cards, as Mr. Corr said.