Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am rather disappointed to hear the Minister's lacklustre response. The credit unions have on deposit somewhere between €13 billion and €14 billion at any time. Many of the members would be really happy if, as the Minister himself referenced, a relatively small proportion of funds, something like €700 million, could be invested for starter projects.

The Minister referenced that the Credit Union Development Association, CUDA, has advanced the work but does he not understand that in his reply, as with previous replies on housing, he and the Department of Finance are not prepared to assist the credit unions in getting the initiative under way? He said that he wants the credit unions to do all of the work when, in fact, much of the expertise in the structure of the project should be provided by the Department of Finance. The Minister is standing back from that; perhaps he is cold on the idea.

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