Mr. Kieron Brennan:

There is such debate going on. However, it is necessary to put that in context. In the Republic, there are over 400 sovereign entities which may decide their own futures and who may do so on a different basis to their collective credit union brethren. A number of things are discernible. First, there is some degree of consolidation. Credit unions are under pressure from a number of angles, not least the regulatory one mentioned earlier. Other credit unions are looking to the future in terms of their relevance and the range of services they offer to their members. In this regard, they are considering electronic funds transfers and so on and focusing on the new emerging generation who are not necessarily going to queue up with a passbook on a Friday morning to lodge savings and loan repayments and so on. The relevance debate is ongoing. The credit union movement is a co-operative and democratic movement. As such, that debate will take place within the movement in an open way.