Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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39. To ask the Minister for Finance if he considers the existing regulatory limits and restrictions on credit unions to be proportionate given the changed retail banking market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16256/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The legislative and regulatory framework for the credit union sector is provided for by the Credit Union Act 1997, the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012, and the Credit Union Act 1997 (Regulatory Requirements) Regulations 2016.

This framework outlines requirements for credit unions across a range of areas, including items such as governance, capital, liquidity, lending, and investments. This provides for a proportionate and strong framework that aims to ensure the protection of members' funds, and maintain the financial stability of the sector itself. This framework is continuously monitored and amended, as required, to ensure that it remains appropriate for credit unions as they continue to expand their business model.

In May 2024, the Central Bank of Ireland published a peer review undertaken by the International Credit Union Regulators’ Network (ICURN) which provided an overall positive assessment of Ireland’s legislative, regulatory and supervisory framework for credit unions. There are a number of recommendations, which the Central Bank will be addressing.

Recent and proposed amendments to the legislative and regulatory framework underpinning credit unions include:

• The Credit Union Amendment Act 2023 : this piece of legislation introduced many important new provisions such as the ability to refer members to another credit union, the potential to establish a corporate credit union, and the opportunity to engage in loan participation/loan syndication type arrangements.
• Changes to Exempt Services : credit unions can now offer current account services to members in a personal capacity, to members in their capacity as a charity, club or society, and to members in their capacity as a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. These changes also broadened the intermediation services that credit unions can provide to include further mortgage intermediation type services.
• Proposed changes to lending concentration limits : on 11 December 2024, the Central Bank published Consultation Paper 159 - Consultation on Proposed Changes to the Credit Union Lending Regulations. In the consultation paper, the Central Bank has proposed a number of targeted material changes to the credit union lending regulations in the concentration limits for house and business lending, and to the lending practices for specific categories of lending. These proposed changes would mean that the overall capacity for house and business lending would increase to €8.6 billion capacity compared to the €2.9 billion available under the current concentration limits.