Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mine is a more simple formula. Credit unions would remain individual credit unions that have to make prudential requirements. However, as it stands, my colleagues and I believe there is currently a gap in the market to service micro or small businesses in rural communities, cities and towns. The credit unions could come together. Individual unions could pay a levy to a central shared service operator to enable them to access expertise relating to the assessment of SME loans above a certain level. In that sense the shared service would not be competing with the credit unions. They shared service would be funded by the credit unions to enable them to have access to the skill-sets to assess micro-loans. A potential borrower could walk into any credit union and that arrangement would provide the comfort in terms of the regulation by the Central Bank.