The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, today announced the appointment of the following two new members to the Credit Union Advisory Committee (CUAC).
- Claire Byrne, CEO, St. Raphael’s Garda Credit Union
- John Doyle, Operations and Services Manager, St. Jarlath’s Credit Union, former CEO of ReBo
The Committee advises the Minister for Finance in accordance with its mandate under Section 180 of the Credit Union Act 1997. The Committee members will hold office for three years from 1st December 2017.
The Committee’s statutory function is to advise the Minister for Finance and such other persons as the Minister thinks fit regarding: –
- the improvement of the management of credit unions;
- the protection of the interests of members and creditors of credit unions; and
- other matters relating to credit unions upon which the Minister, the Central Bank or such other persons as may be specified by the Minister may from time to time seek the advice of the Committee.
Earlier this year the current members of the Committee were asked to extend their term for another year until September 2018 to further assist in implementation of the recommendations in their 2016 report – Review of Implementation of the Recommendations in the Commission on Credit Unions Report – and to assist in the transition to new members. The current membership of CUAC is as follows:
- Donal McKillop, Chairman, Professor of Financial Services in the School of Management at Queens University, Belfast.
- Denise O’Connell, Partner, Audit and Assurance Services – Grant Thornton.
- Joe O’Toole, Former Senator. Previously served as General Secretary of INTO and President of ICTU.
Commenting on the appointments, Minister Donohoe said that ‘both Ms. Byrne and Mr. Doyle bring a wealth of experience to the role. Ms. Byrne is the CEO of St. Raphael’s Garda Credit Union and has over 25 years’ experience in financial services. Mr. Doyle is the Operations and Services Manager of St. Jarlath’s Credit Union, Tuam, Co. Galway and has experience of credit union restructuring on foot of his role in the Credit Union Restructuring Board (ReBo).
These appointments will ensure that the credit union sector (Dublin and outside of Dublin) is well represented on the CUAC.
I wish the new Committee members well in their work over the next three years. I am confident that they will make a valuable contribution towards dealing with the challenges facing the credit union sector at this important time.’
ENDS