Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is something we should encourage. There have been discussions on the banks in this House previously. I will stay focused on the legislation at hand. We have had a constructive engagement on it. This House has previously discussed the question of burden-sharing with banks including Anglo Irish Bank. It has been argued that some credit unions have made their investments in the form of subordinate bonds. If the State wants to build capital projects and invest in guaranteed products in the economy, we should make it clear that we are encouraging this form of activity. I think the introduction of regulations is probably not the way to go about it. The Minister of State has indicated that he will consider section 12. He mentioned the legal advice that is being examined. I would like to impress on him the importance of making this provision as explicit as possible. If that is done, we should remind the credit union movement, which has a particular ethos, that this money has been made available. At a time when the State is in dire financial difficulties, we should be calling on the credit union movement in that way. Obviously, it will do that for a return. If it is asking for too much, the State should not proceed in this way. We should put it up to the credit union movement because it asked for this legislation to be amended so that it clearly states that credit unions can lend to State-guaranteed projects, with all the caveats in terms of making sure the money is not on call and the amount being loaned in this way is limited to a certain percentage. If we put it up to the credit union movement, it will not be found wanting. I encourage the Minister of State to bring this point to the attention of the Minister before this Bill goes to the Seanad.

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