Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the motion. From listening to some of the Technical Group contributions, one would almost get the impression we announced the closure of 400 credit unions today, which is simply not the case. The motion in front of us is about the last four years and the role of credit unions into the future. There is no doubt this Government put an emphasis on protecting the credit union structure in what were extremely difficult times. There is now a situation in which ReBo, whose representatives some of us met today, has €250 million at its disposal in trying to help credit unions that may be in financial difficulty to merge in order to create a stronger unity in the years ahead. With regard to the commission that was set up in 2012, I believe 60 of its recommendations have been implemented thus far. Therefore, to say the Government has not had an interest in the credit union movement is incorrect.

The role credit unions play in all of our communities has been clearly stated. This is not just a rural issue and many towns and cities have a very active and vibrant credit union movement. This is where students go to get their college loans and others go to get their first car loans or loans for small works on their houses. The reason the credit union is of such fundamental importance is that it is operated on a local basis by local people. We cannot underestimate the role volunteers have played in the credit unions to date and will play into the future.

That is where the conversation must move on to - namely, what is the future for the credit unions? We now see a situation, particularly in small towns and villages of rural Ireland, where the mainline banks have moved out without thinking twice about it. We need to put in place proper financial organisations and we already have the vehicle to do that - the credit unions. What they want now is a bit of ambition being shown on their behalf in order to allow them to do more.

There are concerns about the level of regulation. A small number of credit unions got into trouble during the financial crisis, and we should not pretend otherwise. However, regulations and structures were introduced, and some credit unions needed more help than others. What we are now talking about is how we move the credit unions onwards. One idea is more collaboration with the other institutions in our towns and villages, for example, with the post office network. Another is to allow more ATM current accounts. These are the ways in which we will drive the credit union movement forward and make it more relevant to people in our communities, particularly young people. Many elderly people also want these services but they want more offered with them.

There is a very bright future for the credit union movement. However, instead of looking at the past four years, during which I believe the Government has done everything it can to protect the credit union movement, let us talk about the next five to ten years and how we will bolster the credit unions and encourage more people to use their services. We would be better off doing that than some of the nonsense we have heard so far.

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