Credit Union Offers Government 5 Billion To Build Houses

Credit union offers government 5 billion to build houses

The Government has been offered 5 billion euro by Ireland's Credit Unions to tackle the housing crisis. They say the money could be used to build thousands of homes over the next six years and won't show up on the State's official borrowing books. There are currently 437 credit unions operating in this country, with combined savings in excess of 11 billion Euro - there's also surplus funds of up to 8 billion. The Irish League of Credit Unions has written to the Department of Finance to offer the deal. But Chief Economist with the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dan O'Brien, says they don't need to involve the Government: "If the regulator is happy with it could you not use some of the money that's on deposit in the credit unions to lend to small developers who would build a small development, you know 5, 10, 20 houses because there clearly is a problem with the banking system" he said.