Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 16 January 2018.
Thank you. There's a broader market for credit unions in other developed nations. We look at Ireland, where there's been 77 per cent in the last year and 50 per cent in the United States, and the figures for Wales in terms of credit union membership: 69,000 members here, but 561,000 in Northern Ireland alone. So, I wonder whether the Welsh Government could do more to facilitate the development of credit unions in Wales, given that the larger banks are withdrawing from local communities. Is it possible to create a national network of credit unions that could be successful and could replace the high-street banks that are withdrawing from our communities, in order to ensure that those services remain in place for people in Wales?