Seanad debates
Wednesday, 9 April 2003
Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages.
As far as I know, regulation of the credit union movement has been very inconsistent over the years, even lax, as has the regulation of building societies. Within the new body, we should try to benefit from the expertise and regulation generally, which is bound to arise, to apply uniform rules to the credit unions. It should not be uniform in the sense that we should apply the same rules to them as to commercial banks, but at least it should be clear what the rules and regulations are and they should be applied on a consistent basis to all credit unions, irrespective of their size and so on. No system is perfect. Credit unions are not perfect, nor would they claim to be. They have had experience of imperfection in the not too distant past, about which I am sure they are conscious. While it is fair to seek to have a report back within a reasonable period to see whether the additional responsibility being placed on credit unions is onerous, nevertheless it is reasonable for the credit union movement to be brought within the single regulatory authority.
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