Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. As he has pointed out, we are again discussing a favourite topic of ours, namely, credit unions. We all have some history with the credit unions. I might sound a bit nostalgic when I say that my first savings account was with the credit union and the first few bob that I borrowed was from my local credit union. During my lifetime credit unions have been an integral part of every community in Ireland and it is important that they remain an integral part as we move forward.

We must recognise that the credit union movement is one of the most trusted brands among our people and maintain that situation. Maybe, with the work that we are doing here and the work that the Government has committed to doing on the future of credit unions, we will talk about the credit unions being a trusted brand in another 60 years in this Chamber, and how successful and important that brand is to communities.

The programme for Government clearly sets out that it needs to secure the future of the credit union movement. With that in mind, the Government appointed a Minister of State who would specifically be responsible for credit unions. I now acknowledge the work that the Minister of State has done in communicating with the credit unions during this transition period as we try to secure the future of credit unions. I acknowledge the amount of time that he has given to the credit unions and the amount of engagement that has taken place. I have seen on a one-to-one basis how he has engaged with credit unions. I think that must be acknowledged because following all of that engagement we will have a comprehensive package and will know how viable the credit unions can be into the future.

As somebody who has been in business, served the community and looked for money from credit unions I must say the following. The one thing that is beginning to leave society is personal contact with lenders. Our main banks no longer value personal contact and engagement because business is now done using a three-year business plan or a 20-page Excel spreadsheet that displays a load of figures, and one is given an answer at the end of the day. The credit unions do something different. They know the people in their communities and know the people they are lending to which is a situation that has value. That value is missing from the main banking sector or it has been lost over the last number of years. As anyone can see, there are fewer post offices in communities and fewer banks on the main street. Therefore, it is vitally important that the presence of the credit union remains at the heart of every community.

We have seen some significant changes over the last while. We have seen that lending has begun in the business market, which is a positive change. Asking small businesses to engage in the banking sector now, and go through the processes, reels and rigmaroles that they are asked to do, for what is a relatively small amount of money is realistically unacceptable. Let me give the example of the building of the Brockagh Resource Centre in my community. When extra funding of €50,000 was needed to finish the community centre it was easier for the people involved to walk to the credit union and knock on its door because they knew who they had to deal with rather than go into a heartless bank, which realistically only wants financial figures and takes no account of the person.

Credit unions have played a role in the Covid guarantee scheme for businesses. Indeed, we have seen a further expansion of the role played by credit unions in terms of Brexit. We need to build on all of that and extend. These measures have proved successful because businesses have been able to access credit unions unlike the banking sector.

The Minister of State said that the three credit unions have collaborated in order to lend to approved housing bodies. I shall mention one of the most frustrating things when I was here the last time and when I was a member of the housing committee. I will refer to the fact that we could not get the credit union sector involved in the delivery of social housing. That was not the fault of the sector but the fault of the Central Bank and due to numerous other things.

Today, I ask that we look beyond approved housing bodies. We must consider allowing credit unions to engage with local authorities and allow them to help deliver social housing the same as we have done with the approved housing bodies. I ask that because such collaboration is critical.

We have announced the retrofit scheme. It is another great opportunity because credit unions can provide low-interest funds so people can avail of the retrofit programme. Again, it comes down to the fact that the credit unions will know the people who apply for loans and it is not just figures at the end of the day.

The credit union movement is the one trusted brand in Irish society that we must maintain. I acknowledge and appreciate the work that the Minister of State has done with credit unions. We look forward to the credit unions being talked about in here in another 60 years in a very positive light, as we are doing today, because they are one of our most trusted brands and we must keep it that way.