Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister's efforts since Committee Stage to come up with appropriate amendments that are generally accepted; that approach is to be welcomed.

The main point I am hearing from credit unions since the Committee Stage debate is an acceptance on their part of appropriate regulation and intervention. They are of the view that the scale of the problem is not as great as the Minister indicated in the Seanad. That remains to be seen and the detail of it must be worked out. It is important we bring certainty to the regulation of credit unions as quickly as possible but it is essential that as far as possible credit unions retain as much decision making power locally as possible because they know their customers best and a regulator setting particular limits in Dublin might not be the best way to go. There should be sufficient discretion at a local level where the credit union will know members personally and can make appropriate decisions, particularly when banks are not meeting the credit needs of the economy and our citizens.

The role of the credit unions is more important than ever now. I urge the Minister to continue to liaise with the sector and the representative bodies to come up with a framework that meets general acceptance. There are clearly credit unions in difficulty that need assistance but the vast majority are in good health and we should not unnecessarily interfere with their business model that has worked so well for many decades.

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