Ms Anne Marie McKiernan:

I refer the Deputy to the remarks we and others made about the financial, operational and structural challenges facing the sector. There are some business realities with respect to the pressures they are operating under. I have referred to the long-term viability pressures they face. Their income has continued to decline, while their core lending has contracted enormously. The investment income on which they relied to continue their income steam has weakened significantly. Having regard to its ageing membership base, many of them are struggling to generate the lending business that will keep them viable into the future. Therefore, for many of them, restructuring provides an opportunity to invest in new products or developments that could attract younger active borrowers in the age cohort more likely to borrow for holidays, the building of kitchen extensions and so on.