Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, there are the lending regulations introduced just a few months ago which allow credit unions to lend 7.5% of their assets for secured loans such as house loans. Larger credit unions can lend up to 15%. This was seen as an advancement of regulation but the credit unions are quite concerned about it. We know that in large, developed credit union movements in other countries, credit unions are allowed to lend up to 60%. We also know that over half of the consumer credit market in Ireland is for mortgages. How can credit unions provide a real alternative with this kind of restriction in place? Given that they feel they are stymied in terms of having a more balanced loan book, is this creating a greater risk for credit unions? Some credit unions have come to me and stated that they want to set their own limits for what they can lend. I would be interested to hear Mr. Sibley's views on that. Those are the issues they have come to me with.