Now that they're 'our' banks, does that mean they're credit unions?

There are over five hundred credit unions in this country, and the number of instances of wrong-doing or mismanagement is virtually nil.At the same time, we have about fifteen banks - and as is clear from the constant upward revision of the figures of what we're possibly going to have to pay to bail them out of trouble - there have been years of mismanagement, and in some cases, blatant fiddling.Let's for a moment (although this is difficult) ignore all that has emerged in the past two years and go further back than that, for banking scandals are not new in this country. In recent memory, we've had the DIRT scandal at AIB in the early 90s, the excess charges on foreign exchange transactions - again at AIB, and in various other banks, instances of overcharging, not to mention the massive tax evasion scams in which banks actively encouraged customers to set up bogus non-resident accounts.It's fair to argue that credit unions don't play with the big boys: they're never received the go-ahead to get into the area of mortgages; and they were never the port of call by speculators or developers needing seven figure loans. They're all about loans for cars and holidays and to fund students' living costs, and maybe having a little bit of home improvement works undertaken.That said, there's not one credit union in the country looking for a bail-out from government at the moment.So how have they been getting it so right, and the banks so wrong?It has to go back to the nature of the credit unions, which are, effectively co-operative banks, run by members for the members.The board of directors is elected annually at the agm by the credit union members, and the directors cannot - by law - be paid. Similarly, the members elect a supervisory committee - again unpaid.Only those who are members of a particular credit union can serve as directors or as members of its committees. Only the full-time staff are paid - and they are under the supervision of the supervisory committee and the board of management.There is close monitoring of the books of the credit union by the supervisory committee; loans are considered on a one-by-one basis; and there's a sympathetic ear and a willingness to look at restructure loan repayments for genuine people whose circumstances have unexpectedly altered for the worst.Despite the fact that these people on the committees running the credit unions do so only in a voluntary and unpaid capacity, giving generously of both their time and their expertise, and their energy, they seem to manage very effectively to keep the ship afloat, ethically, and efficiently.Examination of recent annual reports of Mullingar's Credit Union make no mention of any sums being set aside for the purchase of items such as golf balls or golf umbrellas. There doesn't seem to be any sum set aside either for corporate junkets. It's probably fair to assume that the credit union in Mullingar has never flung around tickets to corporate boxes in Croke Park to its best customers, and I've yet to see anyone walking around town brandishing a "Mullingar Credit Union" umbrella.There may be a lot to be learned from the credit union movement, and maybe it's time that we, the taxpayers, now the joint owners of some major national semi-bankrupt banks, demand to be allowed have a hand in the running of these institutions. Maybe it's time that we got to vote on who should be on the board of directors, and who should be on the supervisory committees; and in setting salaries.You never know: if the Government asked nicely, they might find some very ethical people in the general population prepared to give their time freely, and without recompense, for the good of the state.After all: there are 5,000 people on about 500 such committees already giving of their time freely, and without recompense, for the good of their own communities.