Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister accept that if the Bill were passed in its present form without accepting the amendment now proposed and the other amendments we will deal with later, it would seriously restrict the credit unions in their ability to provide financial services to their members? I know representatives of the Irish League of Credit Unions sought - and may have had - a meeting with the Minister for Finance to discuss their concerns about the Bill. Did that meeting take place? If it did it might have ironed out much of what we are discussing tonight.

Does the Minister accept that the Registrar of Credit Unions is attempting to control credit unions in an unreasonable way that ultimately would mean credit unions would be unable to assist their members as they have done in the past? As Deputy Ó Caoláin said, banks are not lending money in any case and a bank with no cash is like a pub with no beer. One simply cannot get blood out of a turnip. The credit unions still have a vital role to play in our economy. Lending to small businesses setting up would create employment in the regions served by the credit unions, which is now every region in the country.

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