Mr. Padraic Kissane:

There are a couple of issues with the ombudsman. I have improved confidence in the office with the new Financial Services Ombudsman, Mr. Ger Deering. The way complaints were handled previously left much to be desired, to put it bluntly. If a customer made the complaint himself or herself and did not bring the required evidence, as shown in Mr. Thomas Ryan's case and Ms Niamh Byrne's case, how it was presented nearly dictated the result. It is astonishing that the average rate of complaints being upheld was 10% or 12% for tracker complaints, while complaints I sent were upheld at a 75% rate. It seems extraordinary that a process can have such variance simply because I knew what documentation to send in and how. Much has changed in the ombudsman's office, and the issue is that if it continues the complaint on a particular account that is then deemed impacted, there is also an ombudsman's process in the redress process. There is a quirk in the system at the moment, and while one can continue, if one wishes, with the appeal to the ombudsman's office, it could be a duplication of the work to a degree. At this stage, coming to the kernel of the situation, one would be as well off waiting for now. That does not apply to all cases. I just mean it generically.