Credit union overhaul could cost €2bn

The restructuring of the country’s credit union movement could cost more than €2bn; rather than the €500m currently being put aside to cover the cost of change.

According to one consultant, an overhaul of the movement could see the number of individual unions more than halve over the next five years.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner yesterday, David Jackman of global consultancy RGP — which has worked closely with a number of Irish-based credit unions in recent years — estimated that the overhaul of the sector, on the back of the recommendations put forward in the Credit Union Bill 2012, could result in the number of individual unions in Ireland dwindling from about 600 to 150-200 over the next two to five years.