Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his assertion that the Seanad will play a crucial role in the making of amendments to the Bill. I assure him of Sinn Féin's full and positive input during all Stages in the Seanad. This is a very important Bill that we need to get right, which is why it is so important that we examine amendments thoroughly.

As other Members have said, the credit union movement is critical in Irish society and has been a very practical and reliable friend to Irish families for decades. I received my first loan from my local credit union when I was 17 years old. I also received a loan every year when I was in college and can say the credit union actually put me through college. I had better tell my mother what Senator John Kelly has just said about guarantors, lest I am tempted to go wild in Las Vegas and leave her to pick up the bill.

In approaching the Bill we must constantly remind ourselves that is not just further legislation to regulate profit-hungry and risk-taking private credit institutions. As Members have said - the point should be reinforced - the credit union movement is a unique institution which is central to Irish communities, coming from the meitheal system, an approach we have seen so often in communities. The ethos of, and respect for, the credit union movement stand in direct contrast to the discredited and rightly vilified politicians and wide-boy bankers who brought the country to its knees. Having said that, reform of the credit union sector is needed. Sinn Féin is clear about this and will be supporting the thrust of the Bill. Obviously, we have some concerns about certain aspects of it and will be tabling amendments to it. The Minister of State also referred to amendments.

We are where we are after a long period of consultation following publication of the report of the Commission on Credit Unions. It is now up to us, as legislators, to make sure a fair reformed regime is put in place. I remind Senators, following earlier comments, that the credit unions will be levied to the tune of ¤500 million and are not getting away with anything. The Minister and his Department have done a good job on the big picture details and I am happy to give credit where credit is due. The tone struck on probity, restructuring and stabilisation is sensible and worthy of the support of all Senators.

There are some areas of concern that we believe can be ironed out through the Minister amending the legislation or accepting some of the amendments we will be putting forward. The first issue of concern is the confusion around the definition of financial services legislation, which is a core issue. Failure to deal adequately with it will be to the detriment of all concerned. As I stated earlier, it is all well and good for us to praise the uniqueness of credit unions, but if we fail to address this important question we risk their being lumped together with other credit institutions. Members of my party met with the Department on this issue. While it was stressed that only those portions of the legislation which already applied to credit unions would be covered by this definition, we remain concerned about leaving this open to discussion. The Minister of State stated in his speech that it should be possible to add some nuances to the definition to clarify it. I would welcome if he could elaborate in his summation on how it is proposed to do this.

The second issue of concern is that of term limits in respect of membership of the board of directors. We can talk all we like about the uniqueness of the credit union movement and the volunteer ethic behind it, but these are but words if we do not recognise this in the Bill. I know the Minister of State will have already heard the arguments in this regard. However, I implore him once again to rethink this provision. As Senator Kelly has already raised the issue, I will not go into too much detail on it now. We need to ensure the commission's recommendations in regard to allowing credit unions to offer electronically enabled payments to facilitate the sharing of services between credit unions are taken into account. This needs to be explicitly permitted for member-level shared services. The Minister of State mentioned in his speech that the Minister had reiterated the Government's position in support of this and that a report and recommendation on how to proceed has been requested from the Credit Union Advisory Committee. I would welcome if the Minister of State could elaborate on the timeframe in that regard, how that will feed into this legislation and what the credit union movement is seeking. In this day and age, it is a matter of common sense that member-level sharing, such as is being sought by the credit union movement, is explicitly included in the Bill.

I call on the Minister of State and my fellow Senators to consider the inclusion of a memorandum of understanding in respect of the relationship between credit unions and the registrar of credit unions, which has been an uneasy one. I do not propose that the detail of the memorandum of understanding be inserted into the legislation. It could be thrashed out by the Central Bank in consultation with the implementation group. Sinn Féin supports this legislation and urges the Minister to strengthen it to ensure it is good legislation. We are all united in our support for further regulation reform. It is hoped that on Committee Stage we will hammer out the last few chinks in the legislation. I look forward to Committee Stage, where we can discuss these issues further.