Mr. Ronan Hession:

The Minister has often articulated the view that there is potential for credit unions to grow and do new things while remaining as they are currently constituted. One of the key aspects of this matter is the fact that banks must provide services to their customers and keep their shareholders happy, whereas in the case of credit unions, the customers are the shareholders and it is they who own the credit unions. As a result, there is not that division. The big thinking behind the commission report was to try to evaluate how credit unions could be placed on a stable basis and allowed to grow without changing their fundamental ethos. That is a very large communication point in the context of credibility. The commission report was fairly clear in indicating that there is not the scope for credit unions to do new things. They need to think carefully about the risks that go with this. There is also an issue of scale because credit unions in jurisdictions such as Canada are very large. To some degree, the restructuring will see to it that a number of credit unions will reach the level of sophistication in respect of systems, investment and economies of scale that will permit them to do new things.

In addition, a tiered regulatory approach is supposed to be followed. In other words, rather than treating all credit unions on the same basis, there will be a standard level of regulation and this will be somewhat more straightforward for the smaller savings-and-loans credit unions. The larger and more advanced operations which have the capacity to take it on board may be able to become involved in a wider variety of activities. The blueprint is there. If there is legislative change, I am sure that is something the Minister would be open to considering. We carried out a major review of the legislation - as part of the commission process and under the 2012 Act - to try to capture everything about the commission report which highlighted the need for legislative change and in order that we would not be obliged to adopt a piecemeal approach to trying to fix the position over time.

Those from the regulatory unit of the Central Bank are not present at this meeting but I can hear their voices in my head saying it is okay in principle but can it be done safely?