Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the significant role of credit unions throughout Ireland. What Fianna Fáil has put forward is a motion that in reality has no clear policy, unless "clear policy" means going back to the days of unsustainable lending and borrowing. Credit unions provide a unique and local service that we are all familiar with, and the Government certainly recognises and supports that role. As the Minister said last night, within months of coming into government in 2011, we quickly established the Commission on Credit Unions to review and strengthen their role. However, what did Fianna Fáil do in previous Governments? Was it looking out for their sustainability and the interests of credit union members when it led this country into recession?

In my constituency of Dun Laoghaire, we have a number of successful local credit unions, including Shankill-Sallynoggin and Dún Laoghaire-Glasthule. At the heart of each of these branches is their volunteer ethos and community focus. The familiarity and feeling of support is unique to credit unions and their not-for-profit mandate has ensured that credit union members' interests have always been their priority. Credit unions know their members, their credit risk and their background. As a former principal of a school, I remember credit union representatives visiting the school and educating young schoolchildren about the merits of saving and wise money management.

In some cases, the credit union would be more accessible to some communities than even their local bank or post office. They offer an array of services, which I know is greatly welcomed by many of my constituents, particularly elderly people. However, the role of the credit union must be differentiated from the banks. We cannot have a repeat of the past, with some credit unions acting like banks, over-lending and running themselves and other credit unions into great difficulty. We cannot go back to easy lending and unsustainable borrowing.

The Government recognises the vital importance of the credit union to the local community and has allocated €500 million to protect branches in difficulty. I welcome the continued innovation and diversification of the role and services offered by credit unions, so long as a prudent approach is taken that will continue to maintain the sector's stability while protecting the savings of its members.

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