Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome these amendments. The credit union movement has been unique in offering loans to people at affordable rates. They assist many people who would not normally be banking in the general run of things.

When we are debating credit unions it is important to raise some of the other issues that arise. The deposit protection scheme to which I referred earlier is one where continuing issues need to be resolved. I get the impression it is a very slow bicycle race in terms of getting to a point where there is a savings protection scheme that has the confidence of the regulator, which is transparent and where we know there is certainty in regard to how it works. We have been fortunate in that there have been no cases where the system has not been able to cope but we have been given warnings that we need a robust scheme. The Minister needs to inject some urgency in getting to a conclusion.

In recent years credit unions have been moving out of traditional financial vehicles, namely, granting loans to their members. They are buying new financial instruments and we are now extending their remit to new loan vehicles, which is welcome. The other side of that issue is whether credit unions have the management skills to deal with longer-term loans and having more loans of that nature on their balance sheet. This will put new stresses and strains on the management of credit unions. There has always been a debate between the voluntary ethos of the credit unions and the pressure from regulation to become more professional and have higher levels of management skill and supervisory levels.

While I welcome the extension of credit limits announced by the Minister, has he or the Financial Regulator introduced any new reporting or supervisory requirements? Questions have been asked at times about the ability of some credit unions to evaluate risks they take on. It is important that as we make this welcome decision to allow credit unions greater freedom we do the other two things that are needed to underpin that, namely, make sure we are satisfied there is good management of these new responsibilities and opportunities and that savers within the credit union movement are well protected. It would be good for their long-term future and the strength of the movement if we ensure all these measures move in harness together. I am interested in the Minister's comments on the direction of development for the credit union and whether he considers we are close to achieving a solid basis in the future on all these fronts which have been somewhat fraught in the past.

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