Rebel credit unions to snub ILCU meeting

Representatives of some credit unions that had been facing disaffiliation from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) will snub league officers today by refusing to attend a "clear the air" meeting.

ILCU had originally scheduled disaffiliation proceedings against 12 member credit unions for today but agreed to defer such action following a threat by the Competition Authority to institute court proceedings against ILCU should any of the 12 unions be thrown out of the movement.

It has instead invited the credit unions to a meeting to discuss their differences and see if an amicable solution can be reached.

However, some of the credit unions at the centre of the dispute last night told The Irish Times that they would not be attending today's meeting.

The 12 credit unions have fallen out with ILCU over their refusal to avail of its in-house loan protection insurance. They have claimed that the insurance is overpriced, costing up to 30 per cent more than the market average.

The ILCU says that using the service is a condition of membership for its 535 member credit unions. It also contends that any gap between the rates offered by its ECCU insurance provider and competitors is much narrower than that alleged. Profits from the ECCU operation have traditionally been used to fund the ILCU.

It is understood that the credit unions in dispute with ILCU are in the process of setting up a separate organisation, the Credit Union Development Association, to represent its interests.

The unions in dispute with the ILCU include a number in some of the fastest-growing areas of the State. They include five in Dublin - Blanchardstown, Dundrum, Coolock-Artane, DubCo in Dublin City Council and St Agnes' Credit Union in Crumlin-Drimnagh. Outside Dublin, Bray and Greystones in Co Wicklow, Dundalk in Co Louth, Newbridge in Co Kildare and St Anthony's in Claddagh, Co Galway, are among those involved.

Mullingar and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation-based Comhar Linn, which had previously been mentioned in the list, are not in dispute with the parent body.

The league is again taking legal advice on its right to force members to use ECCU for loan protection insurance on funds lent to the movement's 2.5 million members in Ireland. Previous legal advice supported its position against an earlier move by the Competition Authority to revoke a certificate stating that the requirement on member unions to deal with ECCU did not offend competition rules.

League board members are understood to be resigned to a legal battle before the issue is resolved, an unwelcome cost to ILCU, which has only recently put the €34 million debacle over the failed ISIS computer project behind it.