Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I attended a meeting last Friday evening with quite a few board members of credit unions in Roscommon and Galway. The cost of the proposed industry funding levy for credit unions will create an increase from approximately €1.5 million to almost €7.8 million per annum by the end of 2022. There is serious concern among those involved in credit unions. The president of the Irish League of Credit Unions was also present at that meeting which indicates the seriousness of this proposal. The league does not believe that the increase in this levy will be sustainable. It has questioned its extent, the reasoning behind it, and communication with the Department of Finance on it.

We all know how important credit unions are in our communities. They are owned by members, board members work voluntarily and credit unions invest significantly in the communities where they are based. They provide a very important community service to people for savings and micro loans and have a very positive societal impact. I am calling for a debate on this issue because it is in all our interests to ensure that credit unions continue as a sustainable model. We need to see better engagement, and while we know regulation is of utmost importance, it must not be such that it completely strangles the credit union sector. I ask the Leader to facilitate at the earliest possible time a debate on credit unions and specifically on these levies.