Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that the way in which banking is done in Ireland is changing. I think this will cause the biggest problem for the Central Bank and the Department of Finance in how they manage the new arrangements when there are so few pillar banks in the State. It possibly forces them to look at new operators and a system that some of us in the Opposition have been pushing for some time. If it is looked at properly, it can provide an opportunity for citizens to access equitable finance. Credit unions can and do provide a financial system that citizens trust and want to see do more. My local credit union is now offering mortgages, and if I am going to look for a mortgage or mortgage finance there is only one place I will look for it. I would view it as an honour to owe money locally and see the profit made on my loan going to help other local people. It is not such a revolutionary idea but it would be revolutionary for Ireland. It is to be hoped the State will get fully behind banking in the community. One thing we have seen in this country is that the banks do not care for citizens or their workers.

They have striven for profit for shareholders. Even when we the people have been shareholders, the Government was not interested in reflecting our needs either. For many years people on the fringes of the banking system, as the Minister would see it, and Opposition Members have pushed for the accommodation of credit unions and the post offices in the banking system to serve the needs of people. The State has resisted it as much as possible, and made it as difficult as possible for them to provide services. It must have been in the hope that the banks would ride in and head them off. Now that we have seen that will not happen, maybe the Government will embrace the new reality and make the credit unions and post office network the new solution and put as much effort into helping them as they have in the banks in the past.

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