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

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on the motion tonight. The important role credit unions play throughout the country has been acknowledged on all sides of the House. There is no one in the credit union movement who does not believe we understand that importance, but there is a specific issue before us tonight and going into the future that needs to be addressed. I am sure all Deputies have received a particular document containing a report of what happened here last night and setting out some of the underlying frustrations in that regard. I cannot go through all five pages in the couple of minutes I have, but I note the main word that emerges from it is "frustration". The feeling is that while consultation has taken place, it has not been meaningful. There is a view that it has been a box-ticking exercise and something of a one-sided conversation. My only concern in that regard is that it is only last year that representatives of ReBo, the Department of Finance officials and the Central Bank appeared before the PAC. The Department of Finance officials and ReBo were very happy to engage with us on how the conversation was going and the views of the credit union movement, but that was not so much the case with the Central Bank. It was very hard to get information out of its officials and, at times, it was like pulling teeth. If that is what the League of Credit Unions faces when it deals with the Central Bank, I am concerned. If that is the case, there is a legitimate reason to ask what is going on there. It goes back to something Deputy Rabbitte said. We had light touch regulation which was not enforced ten years ago. We have swung completely the other way altogether, and not only in this instance. That is the case in many areas. People who could have got mortgages ten or 15 years ago cannot get them now. The thing is to find a balance in the middle. It is about finding a way to make this work.

Anyone who is from a rural part of the country knows what the credit union movement means to those areas. The banks have pulled out in many of those areas. If they have not pulled out, one had better be looking for €700 every time one goes into a branch of some banks or one will not be welcome. That is simply not acceptable. There is a different role for both these institutions whether it is the banks or the credit unions and it is a question of finding a happy medium. The conversation should not be about protecting the credit union movement, but about allowing it to grow further and to put down more roots. Deputy Rabbitte, who may not have been aware of my speech, said that there are possible synergies between credit unions and the post office network. These ideas are in their infancy and may not work, but surely it is time to have a conversation as to how to set up one-stop financial services in rural areas using all of these bodies together. That is what the conversation should be about. Whatever issues are coming forward tonight from the Opposition and the Government, the only way to solve this is through further meetings and dialogue. At the heart of all this is how we provide a much stronger service into the future for the credit union movement and how we work with it. That is the key. The movement is the bedrock of many of our rural communities and it is in the cities as well. Credit unions are both urban and rural. Now is the time to act. There is another meeting tomorrow and whatever stumbling blocks are in front of us should be removed because there is a bright future here. I can understand the frustrations.

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