Ms Elaine Cassidy:

We can indeed. After that phase has taken place, the dispute resolution officer will contact the bank and ask questions. He or she will also put the complainant's side to the bank, explain the impact it has had and requisition the documents required at that point. On the mediation side, officers try not to get bogged down in the paperwork because it may not be necessary. They try to push the point to the bank that these are their customers and that the right thing to do is to try to resolve the matter without getting too legal. If this mediation process is unsuccessful and we proceed to an investigation, this is where we get very heavy on documents. We send a lengthy schedule of evidence required and ask detailed questions of the provider about how it had behaved towards the particular complainant and how it deals with this type of complaint generally. We ask for recordings of all conversations with the complainant. We listen to all of them and ask the bank how it behaved under all of the aspects of the consumer codes. The file of information the bank must provide on foot of this is very hefty.