Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is not cynical, but sincere. I ask the Leader to provide clarity on an issue I have raised on two previous occasions in this House, namely, the loss of ¤17 million to credit unions as a result of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act. There has been much toing and froing on this issue for the last six weeks. In recent days, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, has stated that the Minister for Finance, under section 9 of the aforementioned Act, can instruct the special liquidator to act outside of the normal liquidation process to deal with this issue. The Minister has informed the Dáil and the media that there is a fund available to the Credit Union Restructuring Board to assist credit unions and that this matter can be referred to that board. It appears, however, that this fund only covers credit unions whose funds drop below a certain value.

The credit unions affected will lose all except the first ¤100,000 of their money. The people affected by this are ordinary members of 16 credit unions, one of which is in my town. I ask the Leader to request the Minister to give us clarity on the matter once and for all. The Opposition claims there is a provision in the Act to deal with this. The Minister has not answered the question and we need an answer so that the credit unions can deal with the matter in whatever way they need to and move on.