Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Second Stage debate on this important Bill. It is legislation that must be welcomed in the general context.

Before I comment on the Bill, I want to acknowledge the tremendous work being done by the credit union movement throughout the country, including the staff and volunteers who work in the sector. If one asks any individual living in a particular town where there is a credit union who is lending in the area, they will say the credit union, whether it is a loan to go to Las Vegas, buy a car, fund a child going to college or help support a small business. For this reason, credit unions must be supported. Any legislation that protects the credit union movement must be supported. Fianna Fáil supports the Bill, to which it tabled a number of amendments during its passage through the Dáil. The Minister has given assurances in relation to some of those amendments. We await the tabling of Government amendments in the Seanad as promised in the Dáil, which it is hoped will alleviate the concerns expressed by the Irish League of Credit Unions.

In Ireland there is a 67% level of penetration in terms of credit union accounts among the population. In other words, 2.9 million citizens have an account in one of the 403 credit unions throughout the country, a staggeringly high proportion of the population. This shows the confidence the general public has in the credit union movement. It offers a grassroots approach to the ordinary member who can go to the annual general meeting and play an active role within his or her local credit union, and this must be supported by all political parties. I believe this legislation will go a long way in supporting the credit union movement.

The Minister of State will be aware we have had meetings with the ILCU, which has discussed the Bill with local branches. As Senator Kelly noted, they have expressed concerns about some of the Bill's proposals, and also the specific proposals made by the commission that were not included in the legislation, such as those pertaining to the term over which a member can sit on the board of a credit union. The Minister indicated in the Dáil that he might increase the period from nine to 12 years. I hope that can be done as it may go some distance towards supporting the views of the ILCU.

I refer to restructuring and rationalisation. I do not wish to speak at length because we will have an opportunity on Committee Stage to have much more discussion on the Bill. Rationalisation of credit unions is not new; it has happened throughout the world. I fully appreciate there are credit unions that may not be economically viable or are under financial pressure in certain areas. There was a case in Newbridge in County Kildare earlier this year in which there were major difficulties. The Bill is trying to protect such credit unions. By way of comparison, currently there are credit unions in local areas where banks are closing branches. In my home town there are branches of the AIB and Bank of Ireland but AIB is closing and Bank of Ireland operates only a three-day week. The Minister referred to this issue in his speech. We should give credit unions much more autonomy. Let us allow them to have the hole-in-the-wall facility and have salaries paid into accounts. That option is contained in the legislation and should be fully supported and rolled out as quickly as possible. It would increase the viability of credit unions and would also help the general public.

The number of credit unions in Britain fell by 70% when new regulations were introduced. Australia had 700 credit unions but after new regulations the number fell to 106. There is a worry - I certainly worry - that if the regulations are too stringent we might end up with a reduced number of credit unions in the country. It is important that this does not happen and that we support the existing credit unions nationwide so we do not end up with a situation similar to that in Australia or Britain. I hope the Minister will bear that in mind.