Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

That is what we were discussing in the Deputy's absence. There is a minimum charge in the existing regulations which will not be applied to credit unions, so a smaller credit union will simply pay the proportionate amount rather than the minimum amount. That was the point raised by Deputy Burton earlier.

The section permits the payment of aggregate contributions on behalf of a group of credit unions and that facilitates the existing structure and the administration of the scheme at the Central Bank. It will facilitate a bulk payment in lieu of a plethora of small payments by individual credit unions.

With regard to Deputy Burton's query, the guarantee already stands on the basis of ministerial assurance for the credit unions but we envisage the practical administrative arrangements will take three months to complete.

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