asked the Minister for Finance whether the Government have endorsed the recent decision of Irish Life to establish a building society; and whether such a State-owned building society will be granted monopoly status, thereby eliminating wasteful competition, duplication of resources and unnecessary advertising and administrative overheads.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Irish Life Building Society .
8.
: Under the Building Societies Act, 1976, it is the function of the Registrar of Building Societies to decide, within the powers conferred on him by that Act, whether or not to register a society. The question of Government endorsement does not arise.
As regards the second part of the Deputy's question, I would refer the Deputy to the reply given by the Minister for the Environment to a similar question from the Deputy on 25 May 1978. Since I am, as Minister for Finance, the major shareholder in Irish Life, I would like to take this opportunity to make it clear that under existing law an Irish Life building society would not enjoy any special privileges and no change in that position is contemplated.