CREDIT UNIONS WILL be allowed to take part in loan syndications and to refer members to other credit unions if it can’t provide that service.

At a Cabinet meeting this afternoon, Finance Minister Michael McGrath received government approval for the drafting of amendments to the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022.

The loan syndication aspect of the Bill will allow where multiple credit unions to come together to fund one loan for a single borrower.

Meanwhile, credit unions will also be given the power to refer members to another credit union in situations where it could not provide the service that the customer was requesting.

At present, a credit union cannot introduce the member to another credit union, although it can introduce a member to a bank or non-bank.

Both of these amendments are said to “come on the back of feedback from credit union representative groups after the publication of the original bill”.

The Department of Finance previously stated that “increased cooperation will allow credit unions to better serve their members by increasing the range of services offered”.

Following today’s approval, the amendments to the Bill will be moved at the Committee/Report stage in the Dail.

The Department of Finance said the Bill “represents the commitment in the Programme for Government to grow credit union lending through the expansion of services and encourage further community development”.

It’s the first substantive credit union legislation since 2012 and the Bill also aims to recognise the important roles credit unions play in local communities, particularly in light of the exit of Ulster Bank and KBC from the Irish market.