Mr. Kieron Brennan:

Let me make a brief interjection. I thank the Chairman for the invitation to speak to the committee. We will start by giving some general background information on credit unions, the league and the services credit unions offer to the SME sector. We will then discuss some of the reasons lending to SMEs comprises such a small part of our current lending portfolio. Some of these reasons are internal to credit unions and some are external. We will set out two possible solutions that we have identified that could help credit unions to become more involved in providing finance for what is a vital sector in the future economic prosperity of the country.