Credit union members will not have money taken from their accounts to help pay for losses associated with a controversial new computer system for the movement, the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) has said.
The ILCU faces a £27 million (#34 million) write-off following the failure of its project to set up an integrated computer system designed to link the entire credit union movement and allow it to offer a range of electronic banking services.
The losses have led to some concerns among members that they may have to pick up the tab for the costly failure but the ILCU says this will not be the case.
"The important point to stress to credit union members is that no money will be taken from individual member accounts to support the write-off," an ILCU spokesman said.
However, the impact of writing off the cost of the project could affect dividend payouts at some of the member credit unions that originally invested in the project. Some £27 million has already been spent on the ISIS computer project which has stalled after projected costs escalated from an initial estimate of £40 million to £68 million. Of that £27 million, some £10 million came from ILCU central funds while member credit unions put up the remaining £17 million investment.
Of the league's 536 member unions, 330 invested varying amounts in the project depending on size.
The project has provoked sharp divisions within the credit union movement with a number of member unions threatening legal action if the league's support for the project affects their members.
