David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 157 of 28 February 2012, if he has received the final report of the Commission on Credit Unions; if he has considered this report; the action he intends to take as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19256/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Commission on Credit Unions submitted its Report to me on schedule on the 31 March 2012. The Report was presented to Government yesterday and it was published this morning.

I welcome the Report and commend the Commission for its professional approach to the review of the sector. The agreement of all Commission participants to recommendations on issues such as restructuring and a strengthened regulatory framework for credit unions is a very positive outcome.

The Report of the Commission is a substantial document with recommendations on a broad range of issues. It begins by setting out the key features of credit unions in Ireland, their history and development. It then examines the financial position of the sector and considers findings from a survey of credit unions, a public consultation and a separate efficiency study of the sector. It provides an overview of alternative financial co-operative models in various countries across Europe and North America and it considers future models for credit unions in Ireland. The Report incorporates the recommendations of the Commission's Interim Report, published in October 2011, with regard to deposit protection, resolution, stabilisation, restructuring and liquidity and initial recommendations on legislation, regulation and governance.

The key additional recommendations in the Report are in relation to sector restructuring, the details of the proposed new legislative and regulatory framework, and new governance requirements for credit unions.

I will now examine the Report in detail and will be informed by its recommendations in the preparation of reformed credit union legislation for publication by the end of June.

The Deputy refers to Parliamentary Question No. 157 of 28 February 2012 where he asked if I might consider introducing a legal framework whereby credit unions, who are unhappy with lending restrictions imposed on them by the Registrar of Credit Unions, have access to an appeals mechanism. I indicated in my response at that time that I had asked the Commission on Credit Unions to consider if there is a need for an appropriate appeals mechanism for regulatory directions under the Credit Union Act 1997.

The Commission has recommended that regulatory directions issued by the Central Bank under Section 87 of the Credit Union Act 1997 should be appealable to the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal. I will consider this recommendation in the context of the forthcoming credit union legislation.