A number of credit unions will not be able to pay a dividend this year because of the large fall in the value of investments.
Irish League of Credit Unions Chief Executive Kieron Brennan said individual credit unions would have to make adjustments to their accounts because of the lower value of some investments, and this would lower their trading surplus.
He was speaking at the publication of the league's results for 2008, that show loans grew by 6.7% to €7bn, though savings were only stable at €11.9bn.
The average credit union loan in the Republic was €8,860, up 8.7% from 2007.
