Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. Minister of State Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has met with the four main representative bodies and has had extensive engagement with several credit union CEOs and directors around the country.

So far in 2023 alone, Minister Carroll McNeill has attended 20 meetings and events with various credit union stakeholders including the representative bodies, the Credit Union Advisory Committee and individual credit unions. Separately, Department officials from the Credit Union Policy team have very regular engagement with sector stakeholders, including chairing a quarterly stakeholder roundtable. They also act as secretariat to the Credit Union Advisory Committee, which meets on a monthly basis.

In relation to the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill, I am aware that the prompt enactment of this Credit Union (Amendment) Bill is widely sought by credit unions and both Minister Carroll MacNeill and I are working hard to progress this legislation as quickly as possible.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Bill was published in November 2022. In December 2022 the Bill completed the legislative process in the Seanad and in March 2023 it was introduced in the Dáil.

Since this time, both Minister Carroll MacNeill and the Department of Finance have engaged extensively with key stakeholders, including the credit union representative bodies and the Central Bank. As a result of this engagement, a number of amendments have been identified and will be brought forward at Committee Stage.

Department officials have been in contact with the Office of the Parliamentary Council (OPC) and the Clerk of the Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (FPERT) Committee to explore a possible date for Committee stage. However, the timing of Committee Stage and the subsequent completion of the legislative process is, to a large extent, outside the control of the Department of Finance.

This Government’s aim is to introduce enabling legislation, and provisions in the Bill, such as allowing for member referral and the establishment of corporate credit unions, will help future-proof and strengthen the sector for the years ahead.

The introduction of corporate credit unions and member referral, should support greater collaboration between credit unions, facilitating a sharing of resources and greater access to funding. While member referral is not mandatory, it is a new option for making additional services available to members.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. The Central Bank is subject to strict confidentiality requirements in accordance with Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act 1942 and cannot provide financial information in relation to individual credit unions.

I can however provide the Deputy with aggregate information in regard to the credit union sector. As at end March 2023 there are 198 active credit unions with an average size of approximately €104.4 million.

The sector has a total loan book of €5.8 billion. Over 90% of credit unions total lending, €5.26 billion, is in personal loans.

The sector’s average loan to asset ratio is 29%. The issue of low loan to asset ratios is not a new one and to build a sustainable business model, credit unions must continue to grow lending by expanding and enhancing their product offerings.

This Government is encouraged by the growth of credit union mortgage and SME lending, with mortgage lending up 26.6% and SME lending up 12.4% year on year to March 2023.

Enabling provisions contained in the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill, such as allowing for member referral and the establishment of corporate credit unions, will further help credit unions develop their business model.