That's the high-stakes dilemma facing the movement which, together with the GAA, provides the glue that holds many communities together.

Bill Hobbs, chief executive of the Credit Union Development Association, is honest about the scale of the problem, declaring that the movement's way of doing business "was designed for an Ireland that doesn't exist any more".

That Ireland was all but penniless and the credit unions were often the only source of simple savings and loan accounts for many of its citizens. Now that everyone has money in their pockets, either their own or borrowed from somebody else, the banks are busy stealing the credit unions' clothes as well as their customers.

CUDA published a blueprint for reform last week aimed at finding a new role for credit unions in a new era of mass affluence where people have little interest, and even less time, for community-based voluntary organisations.

The wish list is full of sound proposals that would make good business sense for any credit institution.

But many of the reforms would be anathema to credit union traditionalists and, if adopted, they would blur, if not demolish completely, many of the distinctions that separate caring credit unions from greedy banks.

CUDA wants to scrap the practice of paying the same dividend to everybody, regardless of the balances in their accounts or the way they manage their money.

Instead, members who commit to regular saving or to depositing lump sums for fixed periods, would earn more.

The losers would be people would be use the credit union as a substitute for a bank account. By making frequent cash lodgements and withdrawals, they might earn no interest at all or even have to pay for the privilege.

"Paying one rate for all deposits should be a thing of the past, " Hobbs believes.

"If you use the credit union as a type of transaction account, you should get a lower rate of interest or maybe no interest at all because of all the services you're getting for free."

Having to pay fees and charges would be a bitter pill for many credit union loyalists. Even the banks, which make no apologies for their ruthless pursuit of profit, have had to stop charging for many basic services, especially for customers who don't use their branches. When free banking is increasingly the norm, how can credit unions hope to charge for their services?

Hobbs says the fees would be imposed only for time-consuming services such as over-the-counter cash transactions, adding that the banks still charge through the nose for these services. But it would be dangerous for credit unions to underestimate Ireland's unhealthy obsession with bank charges.

We are probably the only country in the world where banks have to seek regulatory permission before they can raise charges or introduce new ones. Free banking is the key weapon in the battle by financial institutions to poach each other's customers, obscuring the reality that customers would be a lot better off if they got a fairer deal on the interest they pay on overdrafts or earn on their savings.

But CUDA's blueprint is not all about making credit unions more like banks. It believes the movement should go back to its roots by staking its claim as a major supporter of social projects such as community business estates, job training enterprises, creches and recreation centres.

And it thinks the government should chip in by diverting the tax it gets from credit union savings into a 300m fund to finance such projects.

This is a novel suggestion, not least because it reopens the vexed issue of credit unions and Dirt. In one of the great anomalies of Irish life, credit union members get to choose their poison.

They can opt to have Dirt at 20% deducted at source, just like bank or building society customers, or they can take their dividends gross. In theory, this means they should look after their own taxes. But in reality, it is doubtful the taxman ever hears about this money.

If the government agrees to pay into CUDA's proposed social fund, and there are many reasons why it should, it must demand that all credit union savings be brought into the Dirt net.

No exceptions.