THE GOVERNMENT has set up a commission to review the future of credit unions and make recommendations on regulating them.

The commission will be chaired by Donal McKillop, professor of financial services at Queen’s University Belfast. The Department of Finance said the commission will take into account the sector’s not-for-profit mandate, volunteer ethos and community focus, while paying regard to the protection of depositors and financial stability.

The commission will provide an interim report to the Minister for Finance by September 30th and a final report by March 31st, 2012, recommending the structure and regulation of credit unions. “The commission will as a priority, having regard to the particular nature of the credit union sector, examine the strategy to underpin its immediate solvency and viability,” said the department.

The other members of the commission include Kieron Brennan, chief executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions; Fiona Cullen, head of legal at the league, and Billy Doyle, a member of the management committee at the Credit Union Development Association.

Others include Eileen Fitzgerald, senior manager at the Citizens’ Information Board; Eamonn Kearns of the Department of Finance; Tom McCarthy, chief executive of the Irish Management Institute, and Tim Molan, national secretary of the Credit Union Managers’ Association.

The Central Bank’s registrar of credit unions, James O’Brien, has estimated 79 of the country’s 413 credit unions are at risk of collapse. About €500 million is needed to shore up credit unions against bad debts and losses.