Treacy Establishes Users Council to the Registry of Friendly Societies
Mr Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, has announced today (Wednesday, 29th August, 2001) the appointment of the Users Council to the Registry of Friendly Societies.
The purpose of the Users Council is to provide advice to Mr Martin Sisk, the Registrar of Friendly Societies, on the work of the Registry. The establishment of the Users Council also provides a means through which the primary users of the various services provided by the Registry can communicate their interests to the Registrar.
The Users Council will also advise the Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce on relevant issues. The formal terms of reference for the Council are -
- To monitor the overall performance of the Registry of Friendly Societies in the context of the achievement of its key tasks and customer care standards.
- To provide views to the Registrar of Friendly Societies on items which might be included in the Business Plan of the Registry.
- To examine the fees established for Registry services.
- To comment from time to time to the Minister on any of the above or related matters.
Minister Treacy welcomed all of the members, wished them well in their work and thanked them for agreeing to serve on the Council. Minister Treacy said that this was an appropriate time to establish the Council with the work of the Registry and of the various bodies regulated by the Registry facing a number of challenges, in particular, the changing financial services environment and the establishment of the Single Financial Regulatory Authority early next year.
Minister Treacy said, "I am confident that the Council can make an important contribution to assisting the Registry in dealing with these challenges and ensuring that the interests of the users of the Registry’s services will be well served".
The members of the Council, who have been nominated by various organisations are as follows:
Mr Tom Wall, Assistant General Secretary, ICTU, Fr Dermot McKenna SJ, Chairman, Co-operative Development Society Mr Michael Woods, Chairman, National Credit Union Advisory Committee Mr Gerry Foley, Irish League of Credit Unions Mr Gearoid Costello FCCA, Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants Mr William Johnston, Arthur Cox and Co., Solicitors Mr Seamus O’Donohoe, Secretary General, ICOS Ms Tanya Dowley, Operations Supervisor, Interface Business Information Limited Mrs Sheila Conneely, Community Representative, Kinvara Co Galway.
The following are the main categories of organisation regulated by the Registrar of Friendly Societies- Credit Unions, Friendly Societies, Trade Unions, Industrial and Provident Societies and Deposit Taking Industrial and Provident Societies. A list of all of the individual organisations and societies registered with the Registrar are set out in the 1999 Annual Report of the Registrar.
