Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In December 2017, CUAC did publish a policy paper on alternative means of voting by members. I accept that there is not a widespread view among members of credit unions that they should have proxy voting. Some people have said that it might facilitate a greater attendance at AGMs. We all know credit unions have thousands of members and there might be 70 people or 80 people at an AGM. Sometimes, there can be more, but a tiny percentage of members of credit unions actually attend AGMs currently. We think if we allow this change, that in due course it might increase the attendance and the involvement of people at an AGM. I accept that it is not for every credit union and that some credit unions will not want to know about it but we want to make it available for those which do want to go that route.

There are different types of credit union. Some of them are geographically-based and others are industry-based and there might be different practices, for example, in a credit union that is connected with a particular workforce, which might be more inclined to go there, rather than the type of community-based one that operates in a particular geographic region. I understand the demand for this is not overwhelming. Some will not go near it, but for those who want to go down this route, we will remove the legal obstacle preventing them from doing so. Let us see how it works. That is my view on it. If we are here in five years' time, and no credit union has done it, so be it.

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