Mr. Ger Deering:

Senator Horkan mentioned the Irish Banking Culture Board. We wish the board well in its role. It has a significant job to do. The chairman of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council, Ms Maeve Dineen, and I met members of the Irish Banking Culture Board a few weeks ago and we are committed to co-operating with them. The culture board and my office have very different roles. We respect its role and it respects our independent role. We will work with it because anything that improves culture and how banks treat their customers is also part of our strategy.

To answer Senator Horkan's question, there is still some way to go. I believe there has been an improvement. We have seen an improvement on the complaints end in terms of the people in the banks who deal with us and try to resolve the complaints, particularly through mediation and so forth. We often deal with the people who are trying to resolve complaints in the banks and we see that they are doing their best. Sometimes, however, when a complaint goes back to the business unit, the same understanding does not seem to be shown. While there have been improvements, there is no doubt there is still a way to go in putting the consumer first and foremost.