Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2016
146. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider making an amendment to the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012 to allow for the reintroduction of the role of treasurer onto the board of credit unions, with no honorarium payment allowed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28527/16]
View answerThe Report of the Commission on Credit Unions, published in 2012, made a number of recommendations including in relation to governance requirements for credit unions. Recommendations made were agreed by all stakeholders. These governance requirements set out the role and responsibilities of two key positions within the credit union - those of chair of the board and the manager of the credit union. Section 64 of the Credit Union Act 1997 identifies the treasurer as the 'managing director' of the credit union and his/her responsibilities included executive responsibilities such as submitting financial statements to the board. In order to ensure that the role and responsibilities of board and management do not overlap and that board members have governance rather than executive responsibilities, the Commission recommended that the 1997 Act be amended to remove the role of treasurer and assign executive responsibilities to the management of the credit union. This recommendation was reflected in section 21 of the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012. Having regard to the foregoing, I have no plans at this time to introduce such an amendment for credit unions.
More generally, in terms of board composition and competence and capability, under the Credit Union Act, 1997 the board of directors of a credit union must be of sufficient number and expertise to adequately oversee the operations of the credit union while the nomination committee must review the composition of the board for the purpose of identifying any deficiencies. In addition, under the Fitness and Probity Regime for credit unions, a credit union must not permit a person to perform a Controlled Function (which includes all members of the board) unless it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the person is, amongst other things, competent and capable to perform their role.
