Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. It is not the type of reply he would normally provide, given that it is couched in legal and bureaucratic language.

There is evidence in every credit union throughout the country and a clear recommendation is contained in the International Credit Union Regulators Network, ICURN, report commissioned by the Central Bank to the effect that it is time to step back, review and ensure that the regulatory architecture for credit unions is appropriate for the future. As the Minister of State indicated, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has the power to effect regulation - this is set out in consultation paper 88 - or to pause and ensure, as recommended, that there is a timely review. Let the Minister return to the Central Bank. The regulations under the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012 must first be commenced by the Minister for Finance. In view of the grave concern among credit unions, I request that the Minister refrain from signing the relevant commencement order and I ask that a thorough and timely review be carried out. The Minister should not allow the credit union movement, the bedrock of stability in our communities, to be sacrificed as a result of the irresponsibility of other financial institutions.

In effect, the banks, as a conglomerate, cost us in the region of €64 billion. I clearly recall that when I was in government an amendment from the regulatory services was brought forward advising the Minister for Finance that capital provision should be made for a number of credit unions that would effectively be in trouble and that the sum required would be in the region of €1 billion. Let us examine the record. Only three credit unions needed some cash - the final total was €25 million. In other words, the amount required was €975 million less than was projected by the great regulators. The irony is that the credit unions have in excess of €100 million as a fallback fund. They could have paid out the €25 million but somebody wanted to make a big deal out of the situation. The Government paid the €25 million but there was no need for it to do so because there was €100 million there to cover the cost.

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