Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012 provides the statutory basis for the restructuring of credit unions and placed the credit union restructuring board - ReBo - on a statutory footing from 1 January 2013.  ReBo is currently in the process of overseeing and facilitating restructuring on a voluntary, incentivised and time-bound basis and is working towards the timetable set out in the Commission on Credit Unions report, with a view to completing the process by the end of 2015. The Government has made available €250 million to the credit union fund for the voluntary restructuring of credit unions.

ReBo has undertaken a high level assessment of all credit unions based on financial data from the Central Bank and engagement with each credit union. To date, ReBo has facilitated the merger of 17 credit unions throughout the country and provided advice and expertise to the credit unions involved in the mergers throughout the entire process. ReBo is currently working with over 140 credit unions who have decided to pursue actively a merger strategy, along with providing ongoing facilitation and advice throughout the various stages of the process.

Throughout the process to date, ReBo has engaged with all credit unions that have been willing to engage with them and have met approximately 300 credit unions as part of this process. It has developed a standardised merger process, with supporting templates to assist credit unions which are going through a merger process. In addition to the restructuring process ReBo has also communicated to the Central Bank in regard to distressed credit unions for which it has not been able to find a restructuring solution, published various guidance documents on credit union mergers, conducted ongoing analysis of financial issues, environmental challenges and trends within the movement and engaged regularly with multiple stakeholders within the movement to include the Irish League of Credit Unions, the Credit Union Development Authority, the Central Bank, the Credit Union Managers Association and the Department of Finance.

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