Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to participate in the debate. I congratulate the Minister on bringing forward the Bill, which I support. I also commend the work of my colleagues in the Labour Party, Deputy Kevin Humphreys and Deputy Arthur Spring, on their work on the Bill in the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.

A level of consensus is evident in the contributions of Members from all political parties and those of Independent Deputies on the need to regulate and reform the credit union movement. It has also been acknowledged that the Bill is a work in progress and there is opportunity for reform. We must take advantage of that.

A number of issues have been raised in the discussion to date, in particular the concept of allowing credit unions to share services.

Under such a system, if a member of a Dublin credit union, for example, were to visit Galway, Limerick or even another part of Dublin city, he or she could enter a credit union there and lodge money or pay off a due loan payment. Such a concept is logical and would be user-friendly for the consumer. One must ask why such a measure is not included in the Bill and also about the degree to which the Irish Banking Federation lobbied against it. I hope the Minister will elaborate on that point and will examine possible changes in this regard at further Stages of the Bill.

A second issue is financial inclusion. Prior to entering the Oireachtas I participated in consultation between the Department of Finance, non-governmental organisations and community and voluntary groups on the topic of financial inclusion, which has the aim of ensuring that every citizen in the country has access to a basic bank account. The credit union movement has the potential to unlock and develop such a mechanism. A strong argument has been made that credit unions should be able to issue debit cards, for example, as distinct from credit cards. They should be able to do so, allowing people to bank with them, because people on low incomes may not have a history of dealing with financial institutions, which, as we know, can be intimidating. They have even proved intimidating for Ministers. Credit unions are rooted in communities and can be a good starting point for people who wish to develop their financial management skills.

I cannot understand why a provision for credit unions to invest in Government projects has not been included. There is a commitment in the programme for Government, agreed by the Labour Party and Fine Gael, to examine certain social investment bonds. Such a concept would permit credit unions and other institutions that have a social as well as an economic function to invest in projects in this country, both in the interests of their members and with the aim of freeing up capital. It would be a logical proposal and merits consideration in a time of scarce resources.

I see this Bill as part of a broader pattern of financial sector reform in this country. The Minister is present in the Chamber, and the budget is only some weeks away. I hope he will look closely at reform of the financial services sector and that he will change his position on the financial transaction tax. Support for such a tax is a mainstream position in Europe. My Labour Party colleague Nessa Childers, MEP, has done tremendous work in highlighting this issue. As a Deputy from Dublin's north side, I am acutely aware that a possible risk to jobs is not something that should prohibit us from taxing those financial institutions that make massive profits and have done so much to decimate and destroy this and other economies across Europe. I make this point because the Bill is part of a broader package of financial sector reforms. I commend the Minister on the legislation and am happy to inspect it further.

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