Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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No. P00028/24, entitled "My Petition to amend the Credit Union Act 1997. The Credit Union Act 1997 as amended. Section 56 B. Which covers the Nomination Committee of Credit Unions", is from Mr. Brian Gould. It states:

My Petition is to amend the Credit Union Act 1997, Section 56 B which covers the Nomination Committee of Credit Unions. The Nomination Committee can block, stop a Credit Union Member from standing for Election as Board Member or the Oversight Committee. A member needs the permission to stand for Elections Section 56 (B). The Credit Union Act 1997 as amended does not specifically proscribe an Appeals Process. An Organisation, Clique, Political Party, Group could extend its Influence over a Credit Union through the Nomination Committee.

The Nomination Committee is made up of the Board of Directors. It can also only allow current Board of Directors or Oversight Committee members to stand for Election. The Nomination Committee could keep the same Board of Directors or Oversight Committee in Office for 12 years or only allow people with the same views.

The actions requested by this petitioner are:

1. An Appeals Process be inserted into Credit Union Act 1997 as amended.

2. All members who wish to stand for Board of Directors or Oversight Committee be notified at least 14 days before AGM, where they are allowed to stand or NOT, so as to Challenge the Nomination Committee decision.

As regards action taken to resolve this before submission of the petition, the financial ombudsman cannot deal with this because it is not financial and requires legislation.

Again, there was a good bit of correspondence undertaken by the secretariat on this matter. That started on 12 February 2024 and there was further correspondence on 6 March 2024, 16 May 2024, 23 May 2024, twice on 27 June 2024, 22 July 2024, 19 September 2024 and 29 September 2024. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the petitioner be forwarded to the Department of Finance for comment within 14 days. Do members have any views?