Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope I will be forgiven for saying there is a lot of déjà vu around the credit unions. We had the credit union sector in before the committee many times. As someone who looks at things on a practical level, I would like to have seen a lot more progress. I am a major believer in the credit union movement. I know virtually all the witnesses. They have a vital role to play. There is a significant amount of confusion among the general public around lending limits and what credit unions can and cannot do. The position must be more streamlined.

I have looked at the recommendations of the witnesses and I wish to make a few points under some headings, namely, the structure of the credit union movement, the role, the lending products offered, the lending limits, interest rates and regulation. Did the witnesses not consider in any way the expansion of the credit union movement to provide a public banking model? We were in Germany recently and I spoke to people about it. The delegation I was with was investigating the Sparkasse model. Much of what Sparkassen do is good but I do not believe the overall model would work in Ireland. However, there are significant elements of what they do that I like. I like the fact it is a public banking model. I also like the fact they provide competition to the pillar banks. I further like the fact they are local, charge a low interest rate and that they are transparent. The credit union movement, which at this stage is the only financial institution other than the post office, that has individual credit unions in virtually every parish in the country. Credit unions could remain individual, as Sparkassen are in Germany but they would be able to offer a range of products. I direct my question to Mr. Corr. Is there a reason it was not considered to use the credit union movement as a conduit to provide a public banking model in this country?