Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Reilly for amendment No. 8. The commission report notes that services may be shared in a number of ways, including the establishment of central credit unions, corporate credit unions, credit union service organisations - CUSOs, but we will just call them "credit union service organisations" - or local alliances. Indeed, shared service arrangements are already in operation in the credit union sector, for example, the Credit Union Services Co-operative Limited or the Irish League of Credit Unions, ILCU's own payment services. The commission recommends that the establishment of such shared service arrangements should be facilitated by legislation where necessary.

The Government agrees that the sharing of services offers credit unions an opportunity to benefit from economies of scale and allows them to access expertise that they would not normally have the resources to engage. The latter may become increasingly important, given the increasing complexity and running costs expected in a modernised regulatory framework and enhanced service offering. The ILCU has accepted that there is no obstacle to establishing shared service arrangements at credit union level.

Subsection (3)(a) of Senator Reilly's amendment No. 8 states:

(a) clerical, professional and management services:(i) accounting services;
(ii) internal audits for credit unions;

It also refers to marketing and research services. I am reliably informed that it is totally possible and legal to bring these services together in a shared way, as is the case in the examples I have cited. As the provision is already in place, there is no need to specify it in the legislation.

We would encourage credit unions to use the shared service model. The Government is using it to save significant resources. I see Senator Barrett at the back. In terms of HR, he will be glad to hear that we will save 26% next year by sharing HR services in central government. If we can do it centrally, there is no reason that groups of credit unions cannot do it locally. There is no need to put it in law, as it is already allowed.