Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am staggered by the report and presentation today. There is a perception that this is almost an underground activity, although it is licensed. The fact that there are 360,000 clients means that this is a real phenomenon, and the numbers for market share would make a high street bank proud. Mr. Sheridan is in the dock on this issue and my colleague has correctly prosecuted a number of issues. The people who should really be in the dock today are in the credit union sector, as they have strayed far from the original purpose of their establishment. Ms Nora Herlihy, a founder of the credit union from my constituency, would turn in her grave at what she would see today as the legitimate purpose of credit unions and how far they have moved from being the poor man's bank. Moneylenders are the poor man's bank by default. Regrettably, one credit union was bankrolling developers, and this happened the length and breadth of the country-----