I move amendment No. 79:
In page 44, subsection (1), lines 21 to 23, to delete all words after "provided" in line 21, down to and including line 23, and substitute the following:
"that—
(a) the board shall endeavour to meet once a month but, as a minimum, shall hold not less than ten meetings in any year; and
(b) the interval between any two meetings of the board shall not be greater than six weeks.".
This subsection has generated much comment, from the Irish League of Credit Unions and a number of individual credit unions. The corresponding section 13(3) of the 1966 Act required the holding of monthly board meetings. One credit union suggested this subsection should replicate that of the 1966 Act.
However, the purpose of the revision to the section was to take account of the small credit union which might decide not to schedule a meeting during a holiday month or other similar occasions. The initial attempt by the parliamentary draftsman to deal with the issue in section (54)(1) of the published Bill has not been entirely satisfactory. The Irish League of Credit Unions pointed out that if a credit union's board of directors traditionally met on the first Monday of every month, the interval of at least one month required in the subsection would only apply in about six months of the year. Accordingly, the league suggested that one month be changed to four weeks.
More fundamentally, however, the prison service credit union suggested the wording was self-contradictory on the basis that if there is to be an interval of one month between meetings, the board may be precluded from meeting "as often as may be necessary for the proper discharge of its business."
The revised amendment which has been produced by the parliamentary draftsman addresses these two concerns by providing that the board shall endeavour to meet once a month, but as a minimum, shall not hold less than ten meetings in any year. In addition, the interval between any two board meetings must not be greater than six weeks. Essentially this is a technical change but the amendment before the committee addresses the principal concerns brought to my attention.