Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le gach éinne ar na boird ar fud na tíre agus ar fud Thiobraid Árann. I would like to pay my richest and fullest compliments to the volunteers, the board members, the staff, and the management teams at every credit union in County Tipperary, from Carrick-on -Suir, to Clonmel, to Cahir and Tipperary town and the suboffices in Bansha, Ardfinnan, Hollyford, Thurles and in all of the towns in north Tipperary as well, for the work they do.

Banks literally do not want people inside them anymore. The banks have gone automated and they do not want a teller to meet anybody. You cannot find a manager or find anybody. The banks have abandoned the people even though it is the people who are paying with their sweat and blood and their hard earned taxes to bail out the banks. It is disgusting how the banks have treated the people. As Deputy Collins said, we needed to take action last year to stop them going cashless, but for how long. The bank's intention is to hell with the people. If someone does not have a plastic card now or if he or she is not a number, then forget about it. People have to transact their business in the banks at a little machine and there is no privacy whatsoever. That is the sort of treatment they get. The credit unions are different. We met with credit union representatives when we invited them to meet with the Rural Independent Group to help us out with the EU health directive schemes, especially for those going to Belfast, through which countless people have been sent up for treatment. The credit union came on board to offer a bridging loan in these cases and nobody has been refused that. Nobody has been refused small loans, including for keeping their houses warm and for everything else.

There is something in this Bill I do not like, which is the provision allowing for credit unions to provide for the establishment of corporate credit unions. The word "corporate" frightens me because we have seen what corporate Ireland has done to the people of this country. We have seen what corporate international has done. We have seen what has gone on with "corporate" so I am very dubious and suspicious of the word "corporate". Some years ago in Clonmel we were almost forced to link up with the credit union in Charleville, County Cork, against the wishes of the members in Clonmel. Thankfully, it did not happen. It should be about the local knowledge and people supporting each other and ní neart go cur le chéile, the sense of the meitheal. Let us keep the corporate out of it.

We tabled a motion in the House to provide for the Sparkasse model similar to that in Germany and Kiwibank in New Zealand. However, does the Government want it? No. They lend to ordinary people every day of the week, and they keep them going. I was pleasantly surprised to find that 90% of businesses in Germany are small businesses. The Sparkassen support them all and the profits go back into the community. Of course, that would not do in greedy corporate Ireland. Let us consider the men that fought for Ireland and whose centenary we will celebrate, including Liam Lynch on 10 April, and the others who fought for this country. The corporate greed has come in now and it has tentacles everywhere. I put it to the Minister of State that we must keep them out of the credit unions. I would not support anything corporate inside the credit unions. That is one thing we can be sure and certain of. It is about the people in the credit unions and the vision of the boards, the management and the friendly staff, and the way they look after the people. This is what we want. It is about people looking after people, and taking them out of holes, whether it be for a funeral, during a sickness, for a home upgrade scheme or a new car loan or whatever. I do not refer to one of the fancy cars that the Government is forcing on people - I mean the ordinary car. Some years ago we were told to buy diesel cars, then we were told buy petrol cars and now we are being told that they are toxic. The corporate movement moves on, taking its orders from the World Economic Forum, WEF, and taking orders from Europe and to hell with daoine na hÉireann and Seachtain na Gaeilge. It does not care about our language. Patrick Pearse said that a nation is not a nation without its language, and it is not. We do not need corporates in credit unions. We want the boards to be allowed to work and to give their voluntary time, to be able to give their assessments from knowing the people and from their knowledge, and to give their expertise through their friendly staff and tá gach duine sásta leis sin. Why break something? This is the third or fourth attack. The banks are jealous of the credit unions. That is the whole story.

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