Credit union chiefs set to upskill

AS their roles come under even greater scrutiny a course has been developed to train credit union directors and supervisors.

Recently deputy registrar of credit unions, James O’Brien, signalled that the organisation would be keeping a better eye on the performance of its senior people.

He said the same institutions are appearing on the radar too often, when addressing the issue of poor governance at credit unions.

The Credit Union Development Association (CUDA) and Dublin City University’s Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship have launched a directors and supervisors development programme for credit unions.

This is the first dedicated programme specifically designed to boost the skill-set of credit union directors and supervisors.

Chief executive ofCUDA, Kevin Johnson, said while credit unions have largely been unaffected by some of the issues that have beset the banks, bolstering standards, through ongoing professional development, is good for credit unions and their members.

Mr Johnson said the course was not established because directors and supervisors were under-performing.

“The credit union director and supervisor structure has proved successful in the recent testing times. However it is important in an increasingly challenging environment to keep knowledge and skills up-to-date,” he said.

He said credit union the director and supervisor structure has proved successful in recent times but further education and development is always beneficial and this programme is motivated through the “recognition of the changing demands on them and to assist them develop their skills and competencies to better govern”.

He said the course is a CUDA initiative but will be open to all directors and supervisors.

For those who are members of CUDA the course fee is covered in their annual membership fee.

The course will aim to provide a better understanding of directors’ statutory obligations.