Hi °C | Lo °C The latest flurry of media statements from the Presbyterian Church and the Stormont Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, may signify that an announcement is imminent on the future of the troubled Presbyterian Mutual Society. However, it could also mean that the game of "passing the parcel" on this complex issue may continue for some time.
Last week, the Presbyterian Moderator, the Right Reverend Dr Stafford Carson, and the Church's influential General Board politely asked the Prime Minister's Working Group, which was established some months ago, to proceed "with the utmost urgency" to publish its report on its attempt to rescue the PMS.
On the same day, the Finance Minister met a Presbyterian Church delegation and Mr Wilson said afterwards: "There are undoubtedly many complex issues to sort out, but these should not be insurmountable if there is the political will."
However, the PMS members are still in the dark - even though a report from the working party was expected last month. Their deep frustration was expressed to the Belfast Telegraph by Roy Cairns, a member of the PMS Savers' Coalition, who said: "The sooner they get it all sorted out, the better."
The trouble began this time last year, when the society suffered a run on its funds after members realised that they were not covered by the Government's guarantee of £50,000 to savers in banks and other financial institutions.
Last October, the PMS board froze the funds and, in November, Arthur Boyd was appointed as administrator.
In January, he recommended an orderly wind-down and this was accepted by the overwhelming majority of members.
Initially, the Presbyterian Church annoyed many members by appearing to distance itself from the society and underlining that the PMS and the church were separate legal entities.
However, a number of senior clergy - including the former Moderator, the Very Reverend Dr Donald Patton - later mobilised support among a wide range of politicians and other influential figures.
This led to the formation of the working party in June and Dr Carson, whose Portadown congregation has £1m in the PMS, sounded upbeat. "I am confident that things are now moving forward towards resolving this very difficult situation," he said.
However, some four months later, the uncertainty remains.
One of the main arguments of the PMS is that its members are not "investors" but "savers", yet it is still not clear why there has been such a delay in a statement from the working party and the Prime Minister.
However, Sammy Wilson may have given important clues in his department's Press statement last week.
It underlined that a discussion on the rescue of the PMS needed "to address a number of problems, such as getting EU Commission State Aid clearance and ensuring that any rescue is compliant with UK Government rules on control of financial institutions and public expenditure".
This is not a matter for the financially faint-hearted - even though some PMS insiders have been privately optimistic about the final outcome.
It is also clear that, while some PMS members can afford to wait, there are a number of elderly people who are in dire financial straits.
The longer the issue drags on, the greater will be the worry and the apprehension of those who cannot afford either to wait indefinitely, or - worst of all - to lose much of their money.
A clear statement from the Prime Minister's Working Party, either way, remains very much a matter of urgency.
