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

I am grateful to Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this matter. It is worth pointing out, as one looks down through section 30 which deals with this question of liquidity and stress-testing, that as we have become aware of the principle of stress-testing within the banking system, the same principle should logically apply within the credit union sector. If that principle had not applied up until now, provision is being made for it now purely on the basis of ensuring that credit union members' deposits and shares are properly held. One cannot have one without the other. Liquidity and stress-testing are two sides of the one coin. The Minister for Finance made it clear in his contributions in the other House that he does not want these provisions to be used as a hammer to crack over the heads of smaller credit unions which, by definition, scope and size, are in a different league to larger ones. One cannot compare apples and oranges. There is an argument of scale here. It is the Minister's view that the imposition of this section, section 30, in terms of liquidity and stress-testing, and amendment No. 126, will make that argument for the existing diversity of credit unions.