Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Has the Cabinet sub-committee on this issue met? Has the Government brought together the Department of Finance, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the credit unions? To be honest, the credit unions are being treated like "pass the parcel". They are going to the Central Bank, which has given the okay after a lot of consideration, and they are going to the Department of Finance but it is telling them to go to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. All of those offices are held by Fine Gael Ministers. Can these guys not sit down over a caffè latte or something like that and actually agree to iron it out? This is an area where they could untangle the bureaucracy in which they are buried in order that people who need housing could get it, in particular through the co-operative model. It is sad. There is €13 billion to €14 billion in credit unions at the moment, a proportion of which could be very safely invested in providing much-needed homes for people. The credit unions are a community movement. They want to do it. Can Fine Gael and the Government not facilitate this?

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