Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

It is obvious that the cost of regulations should be borne by the authority which imposes them. If this Bill is passed without amendment, credit unions will be subject to extreme powers in terms of regulating lending practices, the reporting of loans, provisional reserves of capital against loans and specified percentages of liquid assets. It would not be right to pass this Bill without the necessary amendments.

Credit unions have done an outstanding service to their communities and to small time savers and borrowers. People who have an aversion to using banks have always used credit unions. All the people in working class areas use the facilities offered by credit unions. We must be careful, therefore, that we do not damage the ethos of credit unions or burden them with additional costs. I am fully supportive of this and other amendments which tighten the Bill and swing the balance away from the banks and the Central Bank and in favour of credit unions.

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