Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
183. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the obstacles which prevent the Financial Services Ombudsman from releasing details confirming the identity of financial institutions against which complaints have been made. [18437/13]
View answer184. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an assessment of the improvement to competition and probity that would result if the Financial Services Ombudsman was permitted to release details confirming the identity of financial institutions against which complaints have been made. [18438/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 184 together.
Firstly, I must point out that the Financial Services Ombudsman is independent in the performance of his statutory functions and it would not be appropriate for me to make any comment on how he does his work. The Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau has long held the position that the public interest would be served by having the ability to publish information on the complaints record of individual Financial Service Providers. The Bureau’s review of international best practice has confirmed this. Consumers will be able to analyse the performance of all financial service providers before making a decision.
I intend to bring forward an amendment at Committee Stage of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011 to provide the Financial Services Ombudsman with the power to name, in certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, financial service providers about which the Financial Services Ombudsman has upheld or substantially upheld complaints. The Ombudsman was consulted during the drafting process and is aware of the Government’s intentions in this regard.
