Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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279. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Irish League of Credit Unions and the deposit guarantee directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23935/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) provides protection of up to €100,000 per saver per credit institution, including credit unions. The scheme gives confidence to depositors that their money is safe in the event that a financial institution gets into financial difficulty.

Directive 2014/49/EU is a new Directive in relation to the D GS which is being transposed into Irish law.  Before transposition, the Department of Finance established a public consultation process to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to give their views on how discretion should be applied. This process concluded last Friday 12 June 2015.  While this Directive provides less flexibility in transposition to Member States than the previous Directive governing the DGS, Article 13 provides some discretion for Member States on the calculation of contributions to the DGS where a lower level of contribution for low risk sectors which, if justified, could be put in place. In relation to the contribution amount, Question 6 in my Department's consultation paper specifically asks whether or not credit unions should be considered a low risk sector and thus qualify for a lower level of contribution, it also requests justification for the answer provided.

All submissions received by my Department will now be examined and the views therein considered carefully over the coming weeks.