Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee to discuss these topics. It is interesting listening to Deputy Healy-Rae. I have one question on the banking sector. We have the potential to develop the credit union network as another force in banking. How supportive is the Central Bank of achieving that, so we end up with a situation where the credit union movement can operate as another banking force in the country? The fact is that they are probably more customer friendly. They are in the community creating community-type banking to provide an alternative to dealing with retail banks, if there were issues. I agree that during the boom of the mid-2000s a lot was built on credit. When the wheels stopped rolling there was no money for anybody to pay anybody. It was a vicious circle. I believe we need to have prudence and reserves to keep things going, whether one is in a small company, a large company or a bank. What is the attitude of the Central Bank towards supporting or getting the credit unions into a framework where they can generally compete with banks nationally?