Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for introducing this Bill. The credit unions are professionally managed by qualified staff. I am a credit union member and was a director of a credit union, which was a voluntary position. I could see at first hand the work being done within credit unions for the communities surrounding them. In the past, we were very much dwarfed by the giants in the sector - AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC and Ulster Bank - but the credit unions are the only ones standing by the people now. Our banks have pulled out. As of last week, AIB in Rathkeale will no longer conduct cash transactions or accept cheque lodgements. It will not even install a machine for people in the community to use. AIB will only stay in Rathkeale for mortgages.

It is time the banks were held to account and we gave credit unions a chance. Credit unions were the only institutions during the pandemic that extended people's loans. The banking sector would not do so. They only gave six months' grace, and people would still have to pay off their loans within the original terms. Credit unions stand by their communities. They stand by me and all my family. It is time the Government stood up for them and did not delay this Bill by nine months, kicking the issue down the road again. Government Members make speeches about how great the credit unions are, but now is the time for them to man up, do their job and stand by the communities that elected them to this House to represent them and not just the banks.

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