Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Leas-Chathaoirleach does not need any supervision. The Minister of State is welcome. I want to briefly welcome the publication of this Bill and to compliment his own engagement with the credit union sector. He has met various credit unions, has engaged with them in stakeholder engagements and has toured the country to meet the front line in relation to credit unions. We all agree that they do tremendous work and they are a trusted brand. They cover so much of the country and are available to communities. In comparison with this, there is the matter of the poor regard that people might have for the traditional banks because of various issues of which we are all aware during the financial crash etc. The growth and the power of the credit union is reflective of the impact of the financial sector and the financial crash of that time. I welcome the level of engagement the Minister of State has had.

There has been enough talk about the assets that the credit unions have, as well as about the amount of them. There is the matter of their ability to fund other projects and to be involved in larger loans. It is important to give them the choice, as long as there is adequate regulation in that regard.That is the important thing. While I did say that the credit unions are trusted and that there were issues with the banks, there were a small number of credit unions, although not in my area, that got too large too quickly during that time and ran into problems. That happened under the original legislation. While I accept the need to look at that Act again, we have to be conscious and careful that we do not do anything that will undermine the good work credit unions have done over recent years or their trusted brand.

In the Minister of State's speech, he said the Bill will support enhanced governance by making the manager a member of the board. That makes perfect sense. The member could be an ex officiomember of the board and therefore accountable to it, as would be the case with any good board. I presume there is a rationale for reducing the minimum number of board meetings. I am not exactly sure of the purpose of the reduction in five administrative issues to be mandatorily approved at board level. The Minister's sixth point regarding the electronic transfer of accounts makes sense. With regard to the flexibility to allow for loan participation, to allow for more businesses to be members and to allow credit unions to lend to certain public sector entities designated by the Minister, the question is whether this flexibility is to be open-ended. Will it be done by regulation once the Act is amended? What does the Minister of State have in mind? Has consideration been given to the certain public sector entities that will be designated to allow lending to take place? Those are some of my main points.

Oversight is the biggest issue. While major changes could be sought or initiated by the credit union with the best of intentions, one has to question whether they are in their interests. Again, if they grow too large, could they run into problems? That is my only concern. As I have said, it is a trusted and important brand that is community-driven and community-owned. There is great potential in the sector. We just have to ensure the right balance between what the credit unions want themselves and proper regulation and oversight.