Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by expressing the sympathy of the Fianna Fáil Party and, I am sure, all Members of the House to the people and government of the Philippines on the disaster that has befallen them in recent days. It is heartbreaking to watch the reports of the national media on the scenes of devastation throughout that country. We are all thinking of the people there and of the many decent, hard-working members of the Filipino community working in this country. I commend the Government on its immediate offer of €1 million in aid. I urge the Tánaiste to investigate, as quickly as possible, the possibility of sending the rapid response unit to help in rebuilding that country.

Last week, the Central Bank published a report which indicated a huge increase in the number of people using licensed moneylenders. We are already concerned about the many unscrupulous unlicensed lenders working in this country. Across communities, the bulwark against these lenders is the credit unions. The Irish credit union movement has been diligent in combating such people, who charge exorbitant rates. Where banks have refused money to families and individuals, many have gone to their credit union where they found that the small sums of money they required to live on a daily basis were made available to them.

The circumstances resulting in Newbridge Credit Union being taken over by Permanent TSB are very unfortunate. There was something particularly unedifying in seeing the Central Bank go to the High Court on Sunday evening, which I believe was prompted by reports on the local radio station, Kfm, that this was going to happen this week.

The process has taken two years and has been inordinately expensive, costing upwards of €3 million. The end result is that the people of Newbridge have no credit union. Does the Tánaiste agree that the methods employed by the regulator and the Central Bank have been spectacularly unsuccessful? Will he confirm the Government's support and respect for and acknowledgement of the fact that the credit union movement throughout the country has delivered a great deal of vital support for communities?

Responding to a Topical Issue some time ago, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, indicated that 30 other credit unions may have been in trouble. In today's media, including the Irish Independent-----

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