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Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy debate -
Wednesday, 9 Apr 1997

SECTION 181.

I move amendment No. 146:

In page 136, subsection (1), lines 44 to 46, to delete paragraph (f).

Amendment agreed to.
Section 181, as amended, agreed to.
Section 182 agreed to.
Amendment No. 147 not moved.
Sections 183 to 188, inclusive, agreed to.
Amendment No. 148 not moved.
First and Second Schedules agreed to.
THIRD SCHEDULE.

I move amendment No. 149:

In page 141, paragraph 3, line 31, to delete "members" and substitute "members and a member of the credit control committee, the credit control officer or a credit officer shall not be eligible for membership".

Amendment agreed to.

I move amendment No. 150:

In page 141, paragraph 4, line 33, to delete "committee" and substitute "committee, the credit control officer".

Amendment agreed to.
Third Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Fourth and Fifth Schedules agreed to.
Title agreed to.
Report of Select Committee.

I propose the following draft report: "That the Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy has considered the Credit Union Bill, 1996, made amendments thereto and the Bill, as amended, is reported to the Dáil." Is that agreed? Agreed.

Report agreed to.

Ordered to report to the Dáil accordingly.

Before I adjourn the meeting, Deputy Eric Byrne wishes to speak.

I apologise for my absence. In fact, I was watching the proceedings on my monitor upstairs. The Minister has done a fantastic day's work. He took on an onerous task to bring this Bill through Committee Stage.

I appreciate that Deputy O'Keeffe is convinced it was his amendments and opposition to elements of the Bill that made the Minister change his mind. As a backbencher, I thank the Minister for listening carefully to my representations on behalf of the credit unions in my constituency. I thank him, in particular, for listening, being so tolerant and taking on board the suggestions of the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and Democratic Left. He ought to be applauded and congratulated for doing a tremendous day's work, particularly in the light of the project being so long in gestation. It has been lying waiting for this day for many years. I hope the credit union movement recognises the work which has been done and the consideration which the Minister gave to its views. I applaud the project to date, entrust the legislation to the credit union members and hope to see their efforts go from strength to strength.

I join Deputy Byrne in complimenting the Minister on this work and the members of the committee for the expeditious way in which they dealt with Committee Stage. I know, following meetings in my constituency at the weekend, that there was some concern among members and officers of credit unions that the fact that Second Stage had taken longer than planned might mean that Committee Stage would take a long time too. All members who participated on Committee Stage over the past two days are to be complimented.

As a backbencher, I thank the Minister for listening to the points I and other Members made on Second and Committee Stages. Being a backbencher can be frustrating because business tends to be done between the Minister on one side and the Opposition spokespersons on the other. The Minister's example in listening to what we had to say on Second and Committee Stages is welcome and I commend it to other Ministers.

I wish the further progress of the Bill well. I know it will provide the credit union movement with the legislative framework to allow it to continue to be a major player in the provision of finance and financial services for ordinary people into the next century. When the Bill is enacted, I have no doubt that the credit union will take it and run with it. I wish them continued success in that regard.

I join my colleagues in thanking the Minister for his efforts to steer this Bill speedily through Committee Stage. None of us believed it was possible to do it in three days, never mind two. The Minister must take some of the credit for keeping us on our toes throughout Committee Stage. The object of the exercise was to enact a fine Bill as quickly as possible. Mention was made of the fact that the Bill has been on the back burner for the past ten years. The efforts of the Minister to thresh out issues with the credit unions prior to Committee Stage, and not just in accepting our amendments or our views on his amendments today and yesterday, have been most beneficial.

The co-operation which was shown by the Opposition and Government backbenchers is to our credit. The Bill is now being returned to the Dáil for Report Stage and it should be enacted shortly.

I endorse the comments of the previous speakers. I have always admired this Minister because he is a good listener and that virtue was evident on Committee Stage of the Bill. A recent credit union newsletter editorial stated that the Bill is the first stand alone piece of legislation on credit unions in the history of the State. It is probably the most comprehensive Bill to have appeared before the Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy and the Minister will be well remembered for it.

I also compliment the Irish League of Credit Unions because the undercurrent of much of what the Minister said related to the many times he accepted and was prepared to tease out its proposals. When one is bringing forward good legislation, one is prepared to listen to the other side.

Having talked to many backbenchers, there seems to have been much intensive lobbying at local level. Members of the committee probably received much more lobbying than others. It was good because in many cases it educated us about the credit union movement and enabled us to tease the Bill out further. Tony Smith and Grace Perott put a great deal of effort into this and I am glad credit unions are recognised in legislation. I congratulate the Chairman on an excellent job.

It is a tribute to the spirit of the Bill that Committee Stage was taken without any votes. Deputy O'Keeffe has done a good job. I hope the Bill moves on rapidly to Report Stage and is enacted during the lifetime of the Government.

I thank the Chairman for his wonderful co-operation and patience. I compliment all credit unions and, especially, the Irish League of Credit Unions. It is a wonderful lobby group which went about its work efficiently, carefully and calmly. It convinced both sides of the House that it had a good case. At an early stage, the Bill looked as if it would be contentious and would be a failure. It received massive negative publicity and there was a great deal of resentment throughout the country. Farmer's groups were always known as the strongest lobby group, but that mantle could be handed over to the credit union groups. In future, all other pressure groups will quote what the credit unions have achieved on behalf of their members.

The contentious area originally related to shares, deposits, loans and self-regulation. I am glad that by compromise the Irish League of Credit Unions will be recognised. It would have been a sad state of affairs if this had not happened as it has done the donkey work over the years on behalf of various credit unions. It has been of major importance to the country. Any financial organ with 1.5 million members must be given recognition. It has assets of £1.6 billion between deposits and shareholding and has given out £1.3 billion in loans. I am delighted the efforts of my party in moving necessary amendments have been successful and that the Minister of State was prepared to help, especially with amendment No. 49 on section 35. We are proud of that. I compliment the Minister of State, a man who in the past when on this side of the House always felt the Opposition had a role to play. I am glad he has carried that sentiment on in Government.

I congratulate everyone concerned and look forward to Report Stage. I am sure debate will conclude quickly as there is widespread agreement. We will have a better and stronger credit union movement when the Bill is passed.

I join colleagues in congratulating the Minister of State on a job well done. I do not know of any Minister who could handle such voluminous legislation in such a short time. I compliment him for the useful dialogue he had with the Irish League of Credit Unions which has streamlined the Bill for those concerned. He has vast experience of dealing with people and understood the workings of the credit union from start to finish. I thank Deputy O'Keeffe for making life more bearable than he would on other days. However, he knew that if he adopted delaying tactics, he would prolong the agony. The Minister of State must be congratulated for piloting the Bill through Committee Stage in such an excellent manner. I thank the Chairman who has played an excellent role. He is one of the best Chairmen under whom I have worked and is a man of vast political experience. I thank the Minister of State's officials and the staff of the committee for their magnificent effort. I hope credit union members reap the benefits of the Bill over the next 100 years.

I record my appreciation to the Chairman for the assiduous manner in which he has conducted Committee Stage and, especially to his staff who were pressed upon by both sides in arranging the business of the past two days. I thank colleagues for their interest in the Bill since the early days and for the manner in which they followed Committee Stage and Second Stage during which I expressed my frustration on more than one occasion. I indicated that Committee Stage was the time to make changes to the Bill and that has been borne out.

I thank my officials for their intricate work on this major legislation within a limited time scale. I thank the parliamentary draftsman's office where a number of people were exclusively focused on the Bill over a prolonged period. I also thank the Attorney-General's office. I thank the credit union advisory committee which has a statutory role. I found its advice amidst a sea of conflicting advice helpful and wise. I thank the Registrar of Friendly Societies who had a major formative influence on this legislation and whose contribution was above and beyond the call of duty. Several individual credit unions made representations to me and hundreds of credit union members wrote. I re-echo Deputy O'Keeffe's sentiment that any movement with 1.5 million people is entitled to be involved in the preparation of legislation affecting its future. I went out of my way in unprecedented fashion to involve those people from the inception of the Bill and to ensure they were involved up until Committee Stage. I thank the Irish League of Credit Unions for the painstaking way in which they encouraged other groups to send in submissions on the Bill. These submissions were very useful in terms of ensuring the quality of the Bill we now have.

I thank Deputy O'Keeffe and the Opposition members of this committee for the manner in which they have contributed to, and facilitated, the passage of the legislation to Report Stage. I acknowledge the wisdom of many of the amendments put down by Deputy O'Keeffe; he and the Fianna Fáil party are improving in Opposition and, in another five years, they may be ready to take over responsibility for legislation such as this. I hope to proceed quickly to Report Stage.

I have no problem with moving a motion in the morning if that can be arranged through the Whips Office.

Perhaps Deputy O'Keeffe could facilitate that. There are only two or three areas remaining to be dealt with on Report Stage. We could do that quite quickly.

I will be available in the morning.

It would be helpful if the Chairman could move a motion in the morning with the agreement of the Government Whip.

I thank Deputies for their contribution to this historical Bill which is the largest we have ever dealt with in committee. The Bill contains the greatest number of amendments I have handled at any level over the past 15 years and I have never before seen such a level of agreement among Government and Opposition members of the committee. That agreement was due, in large part, to the prior consultation which took place between the Minister and various interest bodies, particularly the Irish League of Credit Unions. I have received more correspondence and submissions on this Bill than on the last ten Bills the committee has dealt with.

It does not surprise me that the Minister was so successful in his consultations because when he and I worked together as senior members of the largest trade union in Ireland, consultation between trade union members at all levels was very important. The Minister has carried that tradition through very successfully into this Bill. I am very proud to have had the honour to chair this committee and to steer this Bill to its final stages in Dáil Éireann. I hope the Bill will be enacted before a general election is called. That is my aim.

I sincerely thank the clerk and committee staff for bearing with me in circulating volumes of correspondence and in changing times and schedules at short notice. I also thank my convenor and the other Members of the House who assisted me. I thank the members of the public who have been with us for the duration of committee stage. I hope they found the meetings interesting and that they have gained an insight into the operations of democracy.

The Select Committee adjourned at 6.05 p.m.

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