Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Senators who have contributed to the debate. It is very clear that everybody who spoke has a deep personal knowledge of and connection with the credit union movement through their own local credit unions. We accept that, in itself, this Bill will not solve all of the issues in the credit union movement, many of which are issues that will have to be sorted out by the movement itself.

The first point I will make is that this is enabling legislation. It facilitates credit unions in making changes to the way they do their business. They are not being forced to do anything. Some of these issues will be a matter for individual credit unions. The amendments are targeted at the core issues that arose during our consultation process and will provide a much wider set of products to members, allow greater investment and confidence in collaboration and support volunteer directors in a practical way. There are aspects of the Bill that will require consequential changes to Central Bank regulations, a process which will proceed after enactment and which will require consultation with the sector at that stage.

Senator Casey spoke about the valuable community spirit of the credit unions and mentioned the role of An Post, which has a significant role to play in communities, and the fact there is personal contact when you go into a credit union building. Senator Maria Byrne said she was a member of the credit union and precisely explained the issues of the common bond and boundaries. We have provided in legislation that credit unions will have to provide a map or electronic means of showing the extent of their common bond. I have been around the country and I know there can be issues as to what street is in what area. Amalgamations take place. In Limerick, there are particular streets covered by more than two or three credit unions. We are not interfering. We just want this information laid out so that the public and members of the credit union know. I thank the Senator for her thanks to all of the departmental staff for all of the work they have done in the past two years in getting this Bill to this stage.

Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile said that Sinn Féin supports the Bill. I am very pleased to hear that and look forward to it passing. If there are positive amendments that can be incorporated, we will have an open mind to them. This Bill has not come about as a result of some preset view in the Department but from having listened to the credit union movement. If amendments are practical, feasible and to the benefit of the credit union movement, we will have an open mind to them as we go along. The Senator also mentioned the value of the credit unions, especially in the context of the banks closing, and their voluntary ethos. He also said their collaboration is very good and praised significant aspects of the Bill. I hope it will move through the Oireachtas well and will be enacted as soon as possible.

Senator Kyne mentioned how broad-based the credit union movement is. It is now giving out larger loans than heretofore, but that implies a need for good regulation, which there is. The issue of regulation is between the Central Bank and the credit union movement and it is not for the Minister for Finance, the Department or the Oireachtas to intervene. We have to trust both sides. There is no reason that should not continue.

The issue of governance was also raised. I will explain that most of what we are doing is enabling. We are saying that, when it comes to the issue of a manager being a full member of a credit union's board, the decision is up to each credit union. Up until now, that could not happen but we are enabling and facilitating credit unions that want to do that. Those that do not, do not have to. We are removing the blockage for those credit unions that do. On the number of board meetings being reduced to six, this is the minimum number. A credit union can still have ten board meetings a year if it wants to. At the moment, they have to hold almost double that number. They also have other meetings. It becomes quite difficult for the volunteer board members to attend all the meetings of the board and its subcommittees. If we reduce the minimum number to six, it may be easier to attract people onto boards. Otherwise, they may have to attend a board meeting every second week. Again, this is at the discretion of each individual credit union. The six is a minimum. If some want to have eight, nine or ten, they are free to do so.

On the issues relating to the policies of the board, I am open to correction but I believe there are 36 different policies that have to be cleared at board level. These range from regulatory matters to HR matters, staffing matters, the general data protection regulation, GDPR, and freedom of information. I am actually not sure about the freedom of information and GDPR rules. All of these policies have to come through the board every single year. Some of them are quite repetitive and involve a lot of documentation. This will facilitate some policies only having to come to the board every three years. Obviously, the significant ones will have to be cleared every year but some of the more routine ones can be cleared less often than annually.

I thank the Members for their contributions here today. I hope that, when people have had time to study the Bill in further detail, they will see that, as has been reflected here, everything we are doing is to help and support the credit union movement in growing in the increasingly changing financial landscape in the country. We are here to support the credit union movement. As I have said already, if positive suggestions are made during this legislation's passage through the Oireachtas, we will certainly be open to taking them on board.