Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was quite surprised by the Minister's response to amendment No. 13. I accept what he said, but when representatives from the Irish League of Credit Unions came before us, they requested that the suggested amendment be made. I am sure Deputy Michael McGrath also received a copy of the amendment from the league. I understand some credit unions would not be aware of the existence of various funds and possibilities. I am of the impression, however, that the Irish League of Credit Unions is aware of their existence. The league has, for some reason, asked that this be explicitly mentioned in the legislation. I am sure it has been in contact with the officials and may even have been in direct contact with the Minister. If it is simply the case that there is no requirement for legislation and that provision is already made, that is fine and I will accept it at face value. I presume the Minister has an understanding of why the league requested that this change be made. Perhaps he might indicate whether he possesses such an understanding.

Amendment No. 15 is similar to amendments Nos. 12 and 17 and relates to shared services for members. I welcome the Minister's comments to the effect that this issue will be referred to the Credit Union Advisory Group for consideration. I regret that this has not happened up to now. The matter should have been dealt with in the context of the Bill. I am not sure what will be the interpretation of the credit union sector when we examine what the report has to say about shared services. Did it simply refer to back-end services? It must be noted that there may be a different interpretation of the latter. The Minister's stated intention is that we should seek advice on this matter. This should be done without delay and we should specify a timeframe for the delivery of such advice. If the advisory group's response is positive, the Minister should give a commitment to legislate in this matter.

I am concerned that a clear pathway is not being provided for the credit union movement. We met senior bank officials in recent times and are aware of the technological advancements being made within the banking system. All we are referring to in the context of amendment No. 15 is debit cards for credit union members. The reality is that in the light of the advancements to which I refer, people will not be using debit cards in the future, rather they will use their mobile phones to make financial transactions. Amendment No. 15 seeks to allow credit unions to establish shared services in respect of something which is probably going to be outdated in a number of years.

I impress on the Minister the urgency of what we are suggesting. I would have liked him to have accepted the amendment, with the proviso that the new section could not be commenced without a ministerial order. The latter would send a positive signal to the effect that this matter was under consideration and had been referred to the advisory group in order to discover how we might ensure the relevant protections, etc., would be put in place. As stated on Second Stage, we do not oppose the Bill, rather we want to strengthen it. However, there is concern, scepticism or whatever one wants to call it about the fact that the Bill veers very much to the side of regulation. That is important because we want robust regulation, but we also want a clear pathway for the credit union movement. Perhaps the Minister might consider this in tandem with referring the matter to the advisory group.