Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas freisin leis an Teachta Harkin mar gheall ar an mBille seo. Tá sé go hiontach go bhfuilimid in ann an t-ábhar seo a phlé anseo inniu.

The Irish banking system is in crisis. It is a crisis different from the one that existed more than ten years ago but it is a crisis nonetheless. We have a banking market which has been radically shrunk. The crash itself shrank the number of groups operating in the banking market and then Fine Gael came along and created this two-pillar banking system which was in effect an oligopoly and had another consolidating element within it in the banking system. As a result, we have see another two banks leave the banking system in the past couple of years. That has left a small number of players with an enormous amount of supplier power.

The banks that are left in the Irish market can do what they want. There is no limit to their power. The manner in which they use that power is seen in interest rates, the types of loan and so on that people can have, and the types of charges they apply to various accounts. They even determine where they operate. They are forcing people online en masseand are closing their banks in regional towns. They can do this because they have massive supplier power. If there was more competition within the sector, it would put manners on them and they would have to behave in a way that was more supportive of their customers.

I have spoken about the banking crisis but I have heard very little back, if anything. For example, I know of no Government solution to what is happening in the banking system. We in Aontú tabled a motion at the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach seeking for a banking forum to be put in place shortly. That forum would discuss all of these issues, including credit unions and stakeholder public banking. Thankfully, the committee passed Aontú's motion, as did five or six other committees. I made a request of the finance spokespersons of all the political parties. Thankfully, the spokespersons for the Green Party and the Labour Party joined in the effort to get a banking forum set up to discuss the future of banking in Ireland. The credit union must be an integral part of that future.

It is incredible that credit unions have €13.4 billion in savings and their loans amount to €4.5 billion. They have significant wealth that can be tapped into for developing much-needed aspects of our society, for example, housing. Every time credit unions are discussed in this Chamber, everyone treats them like motherhood and apple pie. Everyone supports them and no one has a bad thing to say about them. However, there is never any action taken to develop their role in our society. I met the credit union regulator a couple of years ago where it was admitted to me that the establishment did not trust the credit unions' ability to manage a further banking role. Were I in government, instead of sidelining credit unions, I would look at ways of supporting and strengthening their management ability. This is a strong, well-organised and community-oriented organisation with billions of euro of assets at its disposal at a time when there is a major housing crisis and many other needs, so it is heartbreaking to see there is significant resistance, especially from Fine Gael, to giving a stronger role to credit unions and also to public banking. Unfortunately, I do not believe Fianna Fáil and the Green Party will have an effect on that Fine Gael policy.

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