Mr. Pat Owens:

It does not directly affect us but quite a number of credit unions, particularly those with assets less of than €10 million, still operate without paid staff. It seems to us that the draft scheme will not allow them to continue in that way. If one looks at subsections (1) and (3) of head 25, in which it is suggested each board must appoint a manager and that the manager cannot be a member of the board, this leaves smaller credit unions that do not have paid staff in a situation where they must employ a manager or else amalgamate.