Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister is aware that I have already raised the issue of the credit union levy in parliamentary questions. He is also aware that for several years, I have argued that there should be 100% recovery in the banking industry. I am glad that this is now taking place.

In his opening statement, the Minister said he recognised the unique nature of the credit unions. It is important to define that unique nature. The stand-out difference between a credit union and a bank, a moneylender or a fund, is that the credit union is not-for-profit, community-run and volunteer-led with no big bonuses for board members. Rightly so, the cost of regulating banks, funds, major insurance companies and moneylenders should be paid by the industry itself as opposed to from the public purse.

However, as a society, we have recognised there are important sectors whose regulation should be paid from the public purse. We do not ask charities to pay for their regulation. Accordingly, the State pays for the Charities Regulator. Likewise, Sport Ireland regulates sporting bodies and organisations. This is all paid for from the public purse because it would be wrong to ask local sports teams to pay for it.

While they are involved in lending money, the fact is that credit unions are not-for-profit, community-run and volunteer-led, which distinguishes them from the rest of the sector. Outside of talking about rates and so forth, there is a question as to why we are applying this additional burden on them and putting a figure on their worth for society, as opposed to accepting they are unique in that they are not banks, moneylenders, funds or insurance companies. Instead, they are credit unions which are locally run, responding to local needs and, key of all, are not for profit.