Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 February 2022
264. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on the circa 1,200 tracker case complaints outstanding with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman; the actions that have been taken to ensure that the backlog is cleared; and if he authorised the Ombudsman to employ additional internal and external resources to deal with this matter. [9774/22]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes.
The FSPO’s predecessor, the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau, started receiving tracker mortgage rate complaints in 2009, and these complaints have continued to be received over the last twelve years.
The FSPO has informed me that at end 2021, 1,115 complaints on hand at the FSPO were identified as being Tracker Mortgage Interest Rate Related, of which 1,017 were classified as active complaints. During 2021, 257 new tracker mortgage interest rate related complaints were received by the FSPO Office, with a further 29 tracker mortgage complaints reopened during the year.
370 tracker mortgage interest rate complaints were closed during 2021. The breakdown of these closures is set out below.
|
Early Stage Closures |
34 |
|
Dispute Resolution Clarification |
76 |
|
Mediation Settlement |
39 |
|
Formal Investigation Resolution |
181 |
|
Legal Services Resolution |
18 |
|
Other |
22 |
These complaints continue to comprise a considerable portion of the work of the FSPO and progress through both the informal Dispute Resolution process and the formal Investigation process of the FSPO. The duration required to investigate a complaint can vary depending on the complexity of the file and the number of submissions made by the parties to the complaint.
The FSPO continues to require the services of its tracker mortgage team comprising a team of solicitors, trainee solicitors, paralegals and legal executives who are working full time within the FSPO to deal with these cases. These staff provide legal advice and investigation support services for complaints received from consumers regarding tracker mortgages, which are not resolved by mediation and require a full investigation leading to the issue of a legally binding decision.
The FSPO and its Council continue to monitor the FSPO’s operating environment, monitoring emerging demands for its services and identifying resource and skills needs, as they arise.
