Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. It is good to see him here again. I thank him for taking on board many of the concerns that have been raised by the credit unions.

Credit unions have already highlighted the difficulties they are experiencing in the context of recruiting new directors and volunteers. Many credit union officers have been in their positions for some time. As a result of the timeframe which applies to their periods of service, large numbers of them may be obliged to retire at the same time. I am aware that the Minister for Finance has given consideration to increasing the time limit from nine to 12 years. Perhaps it might be possible to put in place a transition period during which outgoing board members might work with those who are going to replace them. This would mean that the latter would obtain the skills that will be necessary to allow them to run credit unions in the future.

The ethos of the credit union movement is local in nature. It aims to highlight volunteerism and the willingness of people to be involved with the local credit unions. This is an important factor in all communities. The local knowledge and expertise of officers has led to a large number of credit unions being in a healthy financial position. We should ensure that such knowledge and expertise is retained. Most Senators have worked with their local credit unions and are members of them. We usually visit our credit unions late in the evening and we see the range of different people who avail of the services on offer. In view of the difficulties relating to the banks in recent years, we have become more aware of the good work the credit unions do and we wish to acknowledge this.

I welcome the Bill and I thank the Minister for State for coming before us.