Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is an example of how we are trying to work with the credit union movement to try to improve on what everyone in the House agrees is an important and essential service.

We have to remember where the credit union came from. It came from communities where there may not have been a lot of money. It was a way of avoiding people having to turn to moneylenders who were known to knock on the door and take advantage of people who had very little by charging a penal interest rate. Deputy Crowe spoke about the Sparkasse model which, in many ways, developed from the same idea of having a sense of community in banking. The credit union is our community bank. It is essential but it will face different challenges from those it faced in the last century. This Bill is about readying the credit union movement for the century to come. There will be significant changes ahead. I think app-based banking will significantly change the consumer experience. It is not something that people of all levels of digital literacy will be able to avail of. I am thinking of An Post and of the many communities where the banks are pulling out. An Post Money, which is An Post's new app-based bank, is able to connect with the massive network of post offices which are located not just in every town in the country but in every parish. It enables one to avail of many of the benefits of a bank account using the app-based model, as well as the benefits of that local network. It is an idea that the credit unions can build on and this Bill allows them to do that.

The changes to governance are very beneficial. I would caution that there have been cases in which credit unions have been the victim of financial impropriety by the most senior people in their branches. There could be a person with a gambling addiction and there could be financial fraud and so on. We must ensure the community oversight aspect of governance is still there and is not a burden on the running of the business. Protections must be in place so that the community’s savings are safe and not prey to any one particular person who might have problems.

I looked at the numbers and they are staggering. Credit unions have €17 billion in savings, €5.5 billion in loans and 3.5 million members. They reach into every part of the community.

The improvements to services that members will see as a result of this legislation are very positive. I spoke about credit unions in general. In my own area we have Finglas Credit Union, the Progressive Credit Union and Larkhill Credit Union. Ballymun and Ballygall credit unions have recently merged. Many of them do great work. It would be a pleasure to have the Minister of State out to the constituency to see some of that work and to meet with them to discuss the concerns they have with this legislation and also other issues in the community too.

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