Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the subject of the larger banks I am sure everyone was pleased to hear the good news from today; for the first time in four years AIB managed to obtain a bond of €500 million on the open market. That is good news in the circumstances for a bank which is currently wholly ours. Good news came from the Bank of Ireland only two weeks ago that moneys were raised independent of the guarantee. It is a tentative sign of some normalisation in terms of the international money markets being prepared to lend to Irish banks again.

My understanding is that the Minister had a long discussion on the matter on Committee Stage and he has an open mind on it. We do not have a difficulty with the concept if there is a great appetite across the credit union movement for shared services, but we must demonstrate that the appetite exists and there is a capacity and willingness to do so.

The Minister will ask the group that is to be established to report to him on the issue by the second quarter of 2013. Part of the assessment will be on the appetite for such a service, the requirement framework and how it would work, and to examine from an international perspective how it has worked in other jurisdictions. Deputy Broughan raised the latter point in his contribution.

If there is agreement, then the Minister will come forward with legislative change. His view is that it is premature at this stage to make provision for something that might not be required on the basis of an assessment. The issue did not feature in the commission’s recommendations, which says something in itself. I do not wish to second-guess what colleagues have said as matters come on the agenda as an administrative model changes and moves, but it was not on the agenda in terms of the commission’s report. If there is an appetite for such a change and a willingness to put such a system in place locally the Government would want in the first instance to hear about it. That is why we are asking that the possibilities around the matter would be established. When the report comes to Government in the middle of next year we will be in a better position to judge the potential for it on the ground, as it were. If there is a willingness to move the process forward I do not see the Government standing in its way, but to do it in this way – to put it in place without the debate – would be illogical. It would be more sensible to have the debate first to ascertain the level of interest and then if that is on a mainstream basis across credit unions, provision can be made for it. That is the Minister’s position.

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