Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 20, lines 30 and 31, to delete ", with the approval of the Minister and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,".

This amendment deals with the independence of the office and it comes from the view discussed earlier to the effect that the section of the office concerning the Financial Services Ombudsman is self-funding through the industry levy. As a result of the sometimes very technical financial products dealt with, expertise would be required from outside the organisation and there is a requirement to have access to justice in a timely manner. I am concerned in regard to the independence of this office if the appointment of consultants is to require the prior approval of the Minister, which is not currently the situation. My political instinct is that this is where it should rest but I must also question why it is happening now and whether there has been a problem in the past. Has the Financial Services Ombudsman previously appointed consultants whose fees were excessive, thus causing a drain on the Exchequer? Why are we tinkering with the independence of an office which should be independent? The Minister of State discussed how he would act in the interests of the consumer at all times. While one would hope for that to be the case, the Minister must also weigh up not only the interests of the consumer but the interests of the economy, financial services and so on. There are many Members of the Oireachtas and far more people in wider society who would argue that Ministers for Finance in different Governments did not act in the interests of consumers. I am not referring to the Minister for State, Deputy D'Arcy, in this regard. This is an independent office and it sets alarm bells ringing when I perceive that there is a kind of power grab involving the Minister. We have dealt with the issue of regulations such that the council will no longer have authority to set caps on the maximum or minimum payouts or whatever regulations it wants to introduce. There is now this issue in terms of the appointment of external consultants, which, as all members know, will be necessary in some of these cases because of the complexity of financial products that are sometimes dealt with.