Timeframe for CU report ‘extremely tight’

THE Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) has called the timeframe granted to the new Commission on Credit Unions to report its recommendations to the Department of Finance “extremely tight”.

The commission was established earlier this month as a think-tank comprising industry representatives (including the ILCU), with the view to compiling a series of recommendations for the movement’s long-term structure and regulation. The new body is set to present Finance Minister Michael Noonan with an interim report in September, before giving him a more detailed report next March.

Following the Commission’s first meeting, last Monday, senior management at the ILCU — a major voice on the Commission — sent its members a memo setting out its vision for the future of the credit union movement. In it, they noted that “the timeframe for the extensive work which the Government requires the Commission to carry out is extremely tight”.

The memo added that the Commission is set to meet once every two weeks between now and the end of next March, “in order to complete the work which has been assigned to it by Government”.

The ILCU’s memo said that the credit union movement still has many strengths and advantages — “notwithstanding the current economic situation and its negative impact on most credit unions and their members” — and is “very well positioned” to move forward, develop and evolve.

It did, also, say there exists “a willingness and capacity for change”. “Credit unions can play an important role in recovery and in providing services which haven’t been available to many members of Irish society to date. The Irish credit union movement can build on 50 years of growth and success while remaining true to our ethos and core principles, and we will,” the note added.

The ILCU has previously welcomed the Government’s move to establish the new review body, saying the country still needs a “strong and competitive” alternative to the banks.