Robinson And McGuinness Press For Resolution To PMS Crisis

The First Minister and deputy First Minister will use the meeting to propose an alternative solution aimed at easing the hardship caused to members of the society who have been denied access to their savings.

Mr Robinson said: "Decisions taken recently in the high court mean that small savers in the PMS cannot be treated as creditors and will therefore not benefit from the early distribution of monies. In light of this judgement, we are keen to bring forward an alternative solution as quickly as possible.

"The acquisition of the PMS by a financial institution had been our preferred option. We now however feel that this option has been fully exhausted given the absence of firm proposals from any financial institution after several months of investigation. We are therefore increasingly anxious to explore other options.

"The deputy First Minister and I have formulated alternative proposals and submitted them to the Prime Minister and the Treasury. These proposals will form the basis of our meeting."

Mr McGuinness said: "We are acutely aware that the circumstances surrounding the PMS have led to difficulty and hardship for a significant number of local people. We have mentioned in the past that remedies to the PMS situation are complex, but this is cold comfort to those dealing with the daily anxiety about their savings.

"Our proposals to resolve the problems of PMS will call for more direct intervention from government to provide conditions that will satisfy the demands of creditors of PMS and respond with practical help to deal with hardship experienced by small savers.

"We are determined to move forward quickly and with more clarity to avoid any further delays."