Mr. Kevin Johnson:

On that point, it has been very encouraging to see that credit unions have not dived into the high risk end of the market. Again, similar to what Mr. Farrell has just said, the average loan we are seeing is approximately €110,000 and the average loan-to-value is about 56%. Part of what one sees is facilitation of some of the good schemes, such as the tenant purchase schemes. As the credit union builds up confidence and competence in doing this, it can start serving mortgages. We have seen some of what the Deputy has mentioned but not on a wide scale.

To respond to the Deputy's point about the AHBs and credit unions supporting them, I would respectfully disagree. There is a great opportunity for the credit unions. The reason I say that is that we view this as an "also" rather than "instead of". It should be an opportunity for the AHBs to be even more ambitious in providing more units because, as the Deputy well knows, there is such a scarcity of housing. This type of funding is very much in keeping with the ethos of the credit unions. It is a perfect fit.