PART XIV

Miscellaneous and General

180. —(1) There shall continue to be a body known as the Credit Union Advisory Committee (in this Act referred to as “the Advisory Committee”) which shall exercise the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Advisory Committee shall advise the Minister and such other persons as the Minister thinks fit in relation to—

(a) the improvement of the management of credit unions;

(b) the protection of the interests of members and creditors of credit unions; and

(c) other matters relating to credit unions upon which the Minister, the Registrar or such other persons as may be specified by the Minister may from time to time seek the advice of the Committee.

(3) The Advisory Committee shall consist of not more than seven persons appointed for such period as the Minister thinks fit; and every person so appointed shall be chosen by the Minister for appointment—

(a) by reason of that person's knowledge of matters pertaining to credit unions; or

(b) because that person is capable of giving substantial practical assistance in the work of the Advisory Committee.

(4) Any person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either of the Houses of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from being a member of the Advisory Committee.

(5) Where a member of the Advisory Committee becomes a member of either House of the Oireachtas he shall, upon becoming entitled under the Standing Orders of that House to sit therein, cease to be a member of the Committee.

(6) The Minister shall from time to time nominate one member of the Advisory Committee to act as its chairman.

(7) There shall be paid to every member of the Advisory Committee such remuneration and expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(8) Nothing in subsection (3) shall be taken to affect the term of appointment of any person who is a member of the Advisory Committee at the commencement of this section.

181. —Without prejudice to the generality of any reference in this Act to bodies appearing to the Minister or to the Registrar to be expert or knowledgeable in matters relating to credit unions, any such reference shall be taken to include the unincorporated association known as the Irish League of Credit Unions.

182. —(1) After consultation with the Registrar, the Advisory Committee and any other bodies appearing to the Minister to be expert or knowledgeable in matters relating to credit unions, the Minister may make regulations—

(a) prescribing forms and procedures for use by a credit union in the conduct of its business;

(b) prescribing the maximum amount of secured and unsecured loans which a credit union may make to borrowers;

(c) prescribing the security or types of security which a credit union shall require in respect of a secured loan to a member;

(d) prescribing the maximum amount of shares or deposits that may be held by a member;

(e) prescribing the maximum amount of shares or deposits that may be held by credit unions;

(f) prescribing the investments (including investments other than those permitted by section 43 ) in which a credit union may invest its funds;

(g) making provision with respect to the further defining of the exercise of a significant influence as mentioned in section 87 (1)(e);

(h) making provision with respect to the operation, or bringing into operation, of section 48 , or for securing or facilitating its operation, or for removing any difficulty that may arise in bringing into operation any provision of that section or in relation to the operation of any such provision;

(i) altering from time to time the financial (including percentage) limits or time limits applicable under any provision of this Act;

(j) providing for the inspection, and furnishing of copies, of documents in the custody of the Registrar;

(k) making provision with respect to registration and procedures under this Act;

(l) making provision with respect to the settlement of disputes in accordance with section 125 ;

(m) relating to the operation generally of credit unions for the protection of the members' interests; and

(n) prescribing any other matter which, under any provision of this Act, is to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations under this section may relate to all or any one or more of the matters referred to in subsection (1).

(3) Regulations under this Act may provide that any person contravening the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding an amount specified in the regulations.

(4) The amount which may be specified in regulations as mentioned in subsection (3) shall not exceed—

(a) on summary conviction, £1,000, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, £10,000.

(5) Regulations under this section may apply either generally or by reference to a specified category or categories of credit unions, or to a specified time or times, or during a specified period or periods or by reference to any other matter as the Minister may consider appropriate.

(6) Without prejudice to any specific provision of this Act, regulations may contain such incidental, consequential, transitional or supplementary provisions (including provisions for the purpose of effecting the transition to this Act from the enactments repealed by this Act and the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1978), as may appear to the Minister to be necessary or proper for any purpose of this Act or in consequence of, or to give full effect to, any provision of this Act.

183. —If, in any respect, any difficulty arises in bringing any provision of this Act into operation or in relation to the operation of any such provision, the Minister may by regulations do anything which appears to him to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of removing the difficulty, bringing that provision into operation, or securing or facilitating its operation.

184. —The following enactments, namely—

(a) the Central Bank Acts, 1942 to 1997,

(b) the Building Societies Act, 1989 , and

(c) the Consumer Credit Act, 1995,

shall not apply to a credit union or to a body the members of which are credit unions and the principal objects of which are the promotion of the credit union movement and the provision of services to credit unions.

185. —(1) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any instrument effecting the transfer of a share in a credit union.

(2) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any transfer, conveyance or other instrument executed for the purposes of effecting, under Part IX , an amalgamation of credit unions or a transfer of engagements between credit unions.

186. —(1) A credit union shall maintain, in addition to the records required to be kept by a credit union by virtue of section 108 , such other records as may be specified by directions made by the Registrar.

(2) Any register or record required to be kept by or under this Act may be kept either by making entries in bound books or by recording the matters in any other manner, provided that the recording is readily accessible and readily converted into written form in an official language of the State.

(3) Any duty imposed by this Act to allow inspection of, or to furnish a copy of, a record, or any part of it, is to be treated as a duty to allow inspection of, or to furnish, a reproduction of the recording or of the relevant part of it in a written form in an official language of the State.

(4) Where any register or record required to be kept by or under this Act is not kept by making entries in a bound book but by some other means, adequate precautions shall be taken by the person required to keep the register or record for guarding against falsification and for facilitating the discovery of any falsification.

187. —(1) Without prejudice to section 124 (2) and subject to any provision made by regulations, every return or other document required for the purposes of this Act—

(a) shall be made in such form,

(b) shall contain such particulars, and

(c) shall be deposited and registered or recorded, with or without observations on the return or other document, in such manner,

as may be specified by directions given by the Registrar.

(2) An acknowledgement of registration or other document relating to a credit union, purporting to be signed by the Registrar or a person duly authorised by the Minister, including in particular any document purporting to be a copy or extract of a credit union's rules or of any other instrument or document whatsoever, and every document purporting to be signed by any inspector under this Act shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been issued by the Registrar or such a duly authorised person, or an inspector, as the case may be, and shall be received in evidence without proof of the signature.

(3) A printed document purporting to be a copy of the rules of a credit union and certified by an officer of the credit union to be a true copy of its registered rules shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be a true copy of its rules and shall be received in evidence accordingly.

188. —(1) Where a notice, direction, or other document is authorised or required by or under this Act to be served on a person, it shall, unless otherwise specified in this Act, be addressed to him and served on or given to him in one of the following ways—

(a) where it is addressed to him by name, by delivering it to him;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address;

(c) by sending it by ordinary prepaid post addressed to him at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address; or

(d) in the case of an officer of a credit union, by sending it to him by ordinary prepaid post addressed to him at the address of the registered office of the credit union.

(2) Any such document may, in the case of a credit union, be served on the secretary of the credit union.

189. —(1) In so far as any order, regulation, rule, agreement, application, decision or reference made, approval, consent or direction given, requirement imposed, certificate or other instrument issued, register kept, resolution passed, notice served or other thing done under an enactment repealed by this Act could have been made, given, imposed, issued, kept, passed, served or done under a corresponding provision of this Act, it shall not be invalidated by the repeal effected by this Act but, except in so far as this Act otherwise provides, shall have effect as if made, given, imposed, issued, kept, passed, served or done under that corresponding provision.

(2) Where any document refers to an enactment repealed by this Act and provision is made by this Act corresponding to that enactment, then, unless the context otherwise requires, that reference shall be construed as or, as the case may be, as including a reference to the corresponding provision of this Act.

(3) Where an act or omission is an offence under an enactment repealed by this Act and that enactment provides a penalty for the continuation of the offence, then, if provision is made by this Act corresponding to that enactment, the continuation of the act or omission after the commencement of this section shall be treated for the purposes of the corresponding provision of this Act as a continuation of an offence under that provision.

(4) Any reference in this section to an enactment repealed by this Act includes a reference to an enactment contained in the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1978, which, though not so repealed, ceases by virtue of this Act to apply to a credit union.