Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask Mr. Deering this because - and I am sure all Deputies and Senators hear this in their constituency offices - many people are coming under financial pressure and 50% do not seem to be aware of the ombudsman's role until one mentions it. The reason I raise this is that the vast majority of people who come to our offices to discuss financial matters are very frightened of financial institutions - and I mean that. This is why I welcome what the ombudsman does. I just wonder if we as a committee could spread even further the word around the country that the ombudsman is available to help people. We think we are getting to the root of the issue but we are not. The worst thing is to see poor families in courts being thrown around the place, and one asks why they did not go to their Teachta Dála or the ombudsman. Is there a way we could perhaps jointly spread this word around the countryside, getting into the regions and all the counties, to make sure nobody is falling through the trap and getting lost? In the cases of which I am aware, when families lose their homes, I think the effect is sometimes very bad on parents but it is really bad on children, and I do not think we ever think about this. It is a harrowing situation, as we know.