Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 October 2016

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

General Scheme of Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Bill 2016 and Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (Amendment) Bill 2014: Discussion

9:30 am

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I am in a unique situation, because we are dealing with the pre-legislative scrutiny of my Bill. I want to take the opportunity to ask a number of questions which will inform the committee's report on the Government's proposal. I will focus on a major difference between the two Bills.

While the timeframe for both Bills and the current rules on appealing to the Financial Services Ombudsman is within six years, the Government's Bill allows for three years after a person became aware or ought to have become aware of a difficulty. It is that definition of "ought to have become aware" about which I am concerned. When does the clock start ticking on when a person ought to have become aware of a problem? How do we define when somebody ought to have become aware of the fact there was an issue with the product he or she was sold?