Ratoath CU branch to shed four jobs in rationalisation

Dunboyne and District Credit Union is reducing the opening hours at its Ratoath branch to one day a week, which will result in four jobs losses. It is understood that four part-time members of staff of Dunboyne and District Credit Union, which operates the office in Ratoath, have been told that it is no longer viable for the institution to employ staff on a part-time basis. As a result, the employees involved have been made redundant. As a result of the rationalising of its services to its customers in Ratoath Credit Union at Well Road, Ratoath, the Credit Union office will only now open one day a week, on Fridays from 10am to 7pm. Members who have contacted local councillor Nick Killian have expressed anger that they had not been officially informed by the Credit Union management or board members or contacted for their views on the opening hours and the downturn in credit union business in Ratoath, the councillor said. The local Ratoath Chamber of Commerce has also expressed surprise at this news of closure, Cllr Killian said. 'Over the past seven days I have been contacted by long-standing members of Ratoath Credit Union regarding this closure of the business and the lack of any prior consultation with the members from Ratoath by senior management of the Dunboyne Credit Union,' he said. 'Members in Ratoath have indicated to me that they will now have to drive for services to Dunboyne office if Fridays do not suit members. I am disappointed to note that staff members are to be made redundant. Ratoath Credit Union is very much part of the wider community activities in Ratoath for the past 12 years and this loss of service will leave a void. I would like to praise the dedicated staff who have served there members so well over the past 12 years and who have built up the Credit Union service to what it is to day,' Cllr Killian added. Efforts to contact management of Dunboyne and District Credit Union for comment yesterday (Tuesday) were unsuccessful. Recently, the Irish League of Credit Unions" (ILCU) new president, Mark Bailey from Dunshaughlin CU, said that steps are being taken by the Financial Regulator and the ILCU to ensure that credit unions come out the other end of the period of uncertainty well-equipped to continue to serve their 2.9 million members. These include restricting the distribution of surplus funds, affecting dividend levels across the movement, increasing reserve requirements, and a stringent focus on governance and prudent provision for bad debt. Mr Bailey said that one of his first initiatives will be to get together credit union experts to look at what the three- to five-year future for credit unions holds. He is concerned about the ability of smaller credit unions to continue to provide services to members.