ONE OF THE largest insurers of credit unions in Ireland has warned that around 80 Credit Unions in the Republic of Ireland could face closure over losses incurred from unpaid loans.
RTÉ reports that CUNA Mutual, which insures 65 of Ireland’s credit unions, believes around a fifth of the country’s 498 total unions could find themselves collapsing under the strain of bad debts.
Those unions which did survive the current crises would easily be able to otherwise flourish, with a “sustainable” annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent.
UCD banking professor Ray Kinsella told the News at One he anticipated that credit unions would need public assistance as a result of recent stress tests, the results of which will be published soon.
“This assistance is not a bailout in an accepted sense of the world – it’s a bail-in by society,” he said.
Of the 498 unions affiliated to the Irish League of Credit Unions, 410 are in the Republic.
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