Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome Ms McKiernan and Ms Byrne and thank them for their presentation.

I get the overall impression from the presentation and from the question and answer session that it is the registry's view that there are too many credit unions. Ms McKiernan acknowledged the role of community. That is really important because if that goes, the credit union movement, and the linked sense of ownership, goes. Ms McKiernan stated that she wants "to acknowledge the important role which credit unions play within communities". She continued: "Our regulatory and supervisory actions are taken to ensure that the sector can survive and thrive into the future, and has the capability to adapt to the changing environment and meet the needs of members in a modern and progressive way." She went on to talk about "underlying structural factors... which often require technology investment that smaller credit unions, in particular, struggle to deliver", and said: "Further strong efforts and indeed strong leadership at the sectoral level are needed now to address the financial weaknesses and especially the structural challenges, to position credit unions for growth and development ahead."

Ms McKiernan also stated: "To get from where we are now to where the sector needs to be will be difficult but we see four main requirements for sector recovery and growth: further restructuring, drive for new younger active borrowers, marked increase in core lending, and business model development in a multi-step, risk-managed way." To me, that is code for fewer credit unions. Would Ms McKiernan care to comment on that?