Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. A message seems to have gone out from the Government that it is supportive of a replacement credit union in Newbridge. That demand may be coming from the public - I do not know - but it is important that we know where the Government stands on this, so that false hope is not built up. Does the Minister know what will be done with the building?

Do we have an idea of the total value of all loans of the more than 390 credit unions across the country? What is the total value of their deposits? I notice that Kieron Brennan, the CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions, stated that credit unions have access to literally billions of euro that could be lent out. It may not be feasible or it may require a change in legislation, but has the Government looked at the concept of lending to or borrowing from the credit unions? It might be a two-way house whereby the credit union could help the Government if it is looking for funding in the future. It may not be possible, but it has been put out there. Perhaps the Credit Union Restructuring Board could look at it and report on it.

One of the things that fuelled the problems in Newbridge was the property rush. In the loose alliance in which I am involved with Deputy Mathews and others, we have come forward with a theory called the "fair value of a property". I ask the Minister to look at that theory. In additional to the historical breaks on lending, there should be a fair value assessed, based on the average cost of the house via the average income. There should be an established multiplier based on historical information, which should be used as a general rule of thumb in future. It would certainly prevent the situation whereby financial institutions were taking a risk on property prices, for which the taxpayers ultimately had to foot the bill.

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