Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members of the Technical Group and Deputy Mattie McGrath for sharing time. I compliment the credit union movement and the 3 million who avail of the excellent service it offers on a daily basis. Credit unions operate prudent saving and lending policies. Theirs is a vital service which is provided by the community for the community.

Despite statements to the contrary, very little real consultation has taken place with ordinary credit union activists who are now genuinely concerned about the consequences the proposed changes contained in the Bill will have for their credit unions and, more importantly, individual members. The proposals to introduce term limits and overly restrictive conditions on board membership will have major implications for recruitment of new directors in the future. There are also huge difficulties in the context of implementation of the proposed policy under which the prior approval of the Central Bank will be required for nominees going forward for election to officer positions. Further restrictions on the tenure of the chairman of a credit union, as well as additional responsibilities in the monitoring his or her fellow directors, will give rise to serious difficulties for credit unions.

The requirement being placed on credit unions to appoint remuneration committees appears to indicate that the directors of the future will be paid for their services. This will impose further costs on credit unions and sound the death knell for voluntarism within the movement. Despite the fact that directors will remain responsible for the control and direction of credit unions, the significant post of treasurer will be abolished. One would have thought that at a time when the clamour for corporate accountability and openness is deafening, the post of treasurer which provides credit union boards with the required degree of oversight and inquiry would be retained in some form. Furthermore, it is the treasurer who reports on behalf of the board on a credit union's performance to the general membership at its AGM. As a result, treasurers have a special relationship with the members of credit unions.

I salute the credit unions and hope they will be in place for a long time. They have proved to be far more sensible and prudent than the banks. If they had more to do with banking, we would not be in the mess in which we find ourselves.

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