Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I find it incredible that the Taoiseach is saying that he is not aware of the implications of this for credit unions and that he does not know about this. We were told that this legislation was prepared as far back as November and was just ready to be revealed to the House. The use of phrases such as "normal deposits" does not stand up. If one looks at the prospectus alone, the position is clear. They were offered 100% capital security at maturity through an eight year, three month, fixed-term deposit facility. There was never any indication that they would be burned as a result of any action by Government.

I find it extraordinary what the Taoiseach is saying in this respect. In the drafting of the legislation there must have been people who went through the implications of the legislation in terms of upon whom it would impact. It was not a secret to anyone in the Department of Finance, the NTMA or anywhere else that the credit unions had deposits with Anglo Irish Bank, subsequently IBRC. Surely the implications of the liquidation would have been spelt out to the Taoiseach before he and the Minister brought the legislation to the House. I find it incredible that the Taoiseach is saying he is not aware of this. This is a very serious situation for the credit unions concerned. The chatter around the credit union movement is that they are talking about €17 million as an estimate in this respect and it might be higher or lower than that. I asked the Taoiseach initially whether he was aware of this and he said he was not, which I find incredible. What does he intend to do to support the credit union movement as a result of this very significant hit?

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