Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He referred to the credit union movement as an integral part of the community, and that is what it is. Whenever we speak of the movement in this House or the Lower House, we all speak of it in a positive manner because it is an integral part of the community. If it retains those values, the Bill will add to that service it provides. The pillar banks have resiled from face-to-face meetings with people and devalued in-person contact with people, which is a retrograde step. I hope credit unions will not go in that direction but rather will keep the value of that community sprit they have instilled. Interestingly, credit unions and An Post are the two brands to which the Irish people are most loyal, and that must be maintained.

We all know from our history dealing with banks that years ago, there was one-to-one contact with managers. The bank knew the person it was dealing with and understood the business he or she was doing, but that is all gone now. Our banking has gone online, we fill out forms on apps and the personal contact has been removed. That will be an advantage to credit unions, once the Bill progresses through the Houses, if they can maintain that face-to-face contact with the people they serve.

The Bill represents more than two years of work, led by my party colleague the Minister of State, to fulfil the programme for Government commitment to reviewing the policy framework within which credit unions operate. It represents the commitment in the programme for Government to growing credit union lending through the expansion of services and encouraging further community development. It is the first substantive item of credit union legislation since 2012, which related to the Commission on Credit Unions. The review of the policy framework focuses on five key areas, namely, recognition of the role of credit unions, supporting investment and collaboration, supporting enhanced governance, improving members' services, and transparency and regulatory engagement.

Since his appointment, the Minister of State has held more than 50 stakeholder engagement sessions and met representatives of more than 60 credit unions, either individually or in groups, and many more at events. In total, more than 100 proposals, including all those submitted by sector representatives, for legislative and regulatory change were carefully considered. On 10 March 2022, the Minister of State held a consultative roundtable discussion regarding the Government's proposal with the Irish League of Credit Union, the Credit Union Development Association, the Credit Union Managers Association and the National Supervisors Forum. The proposal received the support of all the bodies represented at the meeting.

The Minister of State has outlined the provisions of the Bill, so there is not much point in me going through them again. I thank him for his engagement with credit unions. I know, from dealing with him on a personal basis, that he too values the credit union movement in the community. To help credit unions seize this opportunity, it is a priority to have the Bill passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as possible. On that note, I will say no more.