I move amendment No. 39:
In page 29, subsection (3), line 38, to delete "deposits" and substitute "funds".
Section 31(3) specifies that a credit union shall ensure the rate of interest payable on its deposits does not exceed the rate of return received from the employment of the deposits whether in the form of loans or investments. The purpose of the provision is to prevent a credit union from weakening its financial position by paying rates of interest to depositors over and above the return received by it on the employment of those deposit funds. The Irish League of Credit Unions stated it would be difficult as a matter of practicality to relate the rate of interest payable on member's funds on deposit to the rate of return received from the employment of those deposits as distinct from the rate of return employed from the investment of all credit union funds — shares and deposits. I understand this difficulty, particularly when deposits only constitute about 10 per cent on average of shares held in a credit union. The purpose of the amendment is to meet this concern by providing that the rate of interest payable on deposits does not exceed the rate of return received by the credit union from the employment of its fund generally.