Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tier 1 credit unions, as a matter of practice, will only be enabled to lend for personal loans. Tier 2 can lend to small business while tier 3 can lend to larger businesses. As a safety net under that, there is an application mechanism where a tier 1 credit union could be allowed to lend for business purposes but it would not be the general practice.