Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom an tAire Stáit a fháiltiú go dtí an Seanad arís inniu. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Seanad to debate this important Bill and for setting out the Government's position regarding the substantial amendments to be made to this Bill on Committee Stage. I look forward to debating them. When the Minister of State mentioned the amendments I had anticipated that discussion on the Bill would be dragged out a little. However, in light of what he said subsequently about the unrelated Central Bank matters, I suspect that will not happen.

Fianna Fáil recognises and supports the role of credit unions in terms of their fulfilling a hugely valuable function throughout this country, having more than ¤15 billion in customer deposits. Unlike many other financial institutions, credit unions are open for business and are still providing loans to members, including to small businesses. This should be fully acknowledged in the debate on the future of the sector. What should also be fully acknowledged is that unlike when a bank that goes bust, when a credit union goes bust there is no threat to the viability of the State. If something goes wrong it might possibly have reputational consequences but the magnitude of the damage will be so much less than that caused by the banks to this State yet their role is, in many ways, far more important with banks throughout Ireland closing their branch networks, in particular the Government owned bank, AIB. Credit unions operate in literally every parish in this country. They are run by volunteers in the community for the community.

In this day and age when the economic climate is so tough, increasing numbers of communities are getting together to work at various initiatives in their areas. Often the credit union is at the centre of those initiatives, whether through sponsorship or by providing expertise or even an office for people to do their work. In Senator Quinn's Local Heroes initiative around the country it is evident credit unions have played a particularly important role in the way this movement has panned out in different communities throughout Ireland.

In spite of the difficulties that we acknowledge have occurred in the credit union sector, they have shown a determination to retain their character, identity and voluntary, not for profit and community ethos. As this legislation goes through the House that must be at the heart of all our debate and thinking. That is not to forget the mistakes and, in some cases, wrong actions taken by a very small number of credit unions, such as advancing loans that supported what may have been unsustainable property development. However, that cannot detract from the good of the credit union movement. I believe we can so describe it. The actual sector is in excellent shape. Some credit unions are in need of stabilisation and there have been some injections of State money. However, this has been nothing like the scale of what happened in the banking sector, and is only a small fraction of the money involved. As a State, we should be proud to be able to provide that amount to the credit union movement when a small number of its members get into trouble.

The volunteerism of the movement must be preserved by this legislation. The Irish League of Credit Unions and my colleagues in the Dáil reflected their concerns about what this Bill might do to volunteerism. As I understand it, the Minister has accepted those concerns and we look forward with interest to the amendments he will put before us on Committee Stage. This Bill has been ongoing for some time. There was a commission report and there were hearings at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance Public Expenditure and Reform. We have taken a lot of time with it. If the Minister needs to push this Bill through before Christmas it might well be done in a rush. All Governments do this before terms wind down. I would be concerned that Members in either this House, or the Dáil, to which these amendments must return, or members of the credit union sector would not have time to digest the amendments, look at what is stated, debate them thoroughly and, in our case, vote for or against them as they deserve, according to our opinions.

I am concerned that we may not have enough time to do this if there is a need to rush the other part of the Bill. I wonder if that part could be put through as a single-item Bill in order to allow us a little more reflection, without creating undue delay to the credit union matters. If that could be done as a single-item, one-page Bill on the Central Bank issue, my party would be willing to work to that. It does not seem to be necessary to rush through before Christmas what looks like a major amendment to the Credit Union Bill. People will want to study and examine it to see what are the implications. It is important that there is some engagement between Government and the credit union sector in advance of these amendments coming before the Seanad. I hope that will take place because we will not have much time to talk about them in this House.

We want to see Irish credit unions being in the first division of the international credit union movement, with the Government and its agencies as supportive partners. We want to see credit unions providing funding to Government-backed or guaranteed schemes or projects that have a social benefit, and we want to see the State avoiding the placement of significant regulatory costs on credit unions. Of course, the State needs to balance the interests of savers and borrowers. There is a delicate balancing act involved but we always need to be conscious of the volunteer effort without which, in some cases, our communities would not even exist. I thank the people throughout Ireland who serve as directors, staff and volunteers in credit unions. They are doing a marvellous job and I am delighted that the Minister has taken on board some of their genuine concerns. I reiterate I would not like to see the legislation rushed in the coming weeks which may be unnecessary. We want to see the volunteer aspect of the credit union movement preserved in legislation. We look forward to Committee Stage and will be constructive if the Minister takes on board many of the concerns we have expressed on behalf of the movement. Many of his colleagues have also done so. We genuinely support the Bill but will wait to see what is contained in the particular amendments.