The Government has established a Commission on Credit Unions, which will review the future of the credit union movement in Ireland.
The Commission will also make recommendations about the most effective regulatory structure for credit unions, which will take into account their not-for-profit mandate, their volunteer ethos and community focus. It will also consider the need to fully protect depositors' savings and financial stability.
The Commission will give the Finance Minister an interim report by September 2011 while it will complete its work with a final report to be delivered to the Finance Minister by March 2012.
Professor Donal McKillop has been appointed chairman of the Commission, while its other members include Kieron Brennan, Fiona Cullen, Billy Doyle, Eileen Fitzgerald, Eamonn Kearns, Tom McCarthy, Tim Molan, Robert Moynihan, James O'Brien, Dan O'Gorman, Joe O'Toole and Professor John Wilson.
Earlier this month the Registrar of Credit Unions identified 'high risk' credit unions which were in danger of collapse because of their level of loan losses.
The number nor the identity of those credit unions was confirmed. But yesterday, an analysis by credit union insurer CUNA Mutual accepted that up to 20% of the 410 credit unions fall into that category.
