Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

We are pursuing the commencement of the resolution fund at present. Discussions are going on between ourselves, the Central Bank and the credit union movement but a number of the recommendations of the interim report have already been implemented. I expect to be in a position shortly to commence Part 3 of the Central Bank Reform Act 2010, which would apply the Central Bank fitness and probity regime to credit unions. Once commenced, the Central Bank will then have to formulate and consult on draft regulations and a draft code before the fitness and probity regime can come into full effect for credit unions.

The commission also recommended that the resolution powers granted to the Central Bank under the Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution) (No. 2) Bill 2011 should be considered for those credit unions that meet the intervention conditions set out in the Act. The Central Bank recently undertook the first such action through the appointment of a special manager to the Newbridge Credit Union.

We will await the result of the commission's proposal. That will give us little enough time to formulate the Bill by June but in parallel with the final stages of the commission's consideration, we will run heads of the Bill by it for its views so that we are in a position to legislate as soon as its final report comes in.

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