Mr. Joe O'Toole:

It changes with the different kinds of credit unions. The average age of the members of some public sector credit unions has increased by ten, in effect, as a result of the recruitment embargo of the past ten years. That has not happened in other areas of the public service, such as teaching, to which the embargo did not apply. The real issue, as Deputy Collins will know by virtue of her background, is that this began as a sub-prime lending operation which now needs to be governed properly. At a time when microfinancing is becoming a huge issue - the Deputy spoke about commercial lending - we are trying to get structures together that can reflect modern needs. I will give an example of one of these issues. Bank branches are closing throughout the country. There was another announcement last week. Many small towns, including some in the Deputy's constituency, might not have an ATM later at night when the local Spar is closed. Many credit unions have ATMs in their local areas that serve local communities. If young people are to come in and join, they need to be able to do all their business electronically. They will not do it any other way. If the necessary investment to facilitate this is to take place, there must be economies of scale. We are trying to get to that point. The current 30% loan ratio is not sustainable in the long term. A combination of governance, marketing and progress is needed to unblock that part of it. Electronic banking is certainly part of that.