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

The Deputy raised a number of points, which merit a more detailed discussion on another occasion, given the time constraints today. The levies the credit unions pay have been cut by 55% since this Government came into office, resulting in a very substantial saving of around €6 million. Three different credit union proposals have been approved by the Central Bank for lending to approved housing bodies, AHBs. It is now up to the credit unions and the AHBs to work out the commercial arrangements for that. The option to submit such proposals is open to every credit union in Ireland, if it chooses to avail of it. It is now up to the credit unions and AHBs to finalise the arrangements. The biggest thing the legislation will encourage is collaboration among the credit unions. No individual credit union can take on the big job of mortgage approvals. Back-office support and collaboration among credit unions are required. The service providers that supply the credit unions with current accounts or debit cards are being given statutory recognition in the legislation, which they do not have at the moment, to work on a collaborative basis at the request of individual credit unions. Most credit unions cannot take on the full range of services individually. Initiatives such as Cultivate, involving credit unions coming together voluntarily to offer new products, are the future of the movement.

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