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

Mr. Ger Deering:

We would welcome anything that would bring more transparency to the actual findings. We accept that when they are all combined together it can be difficult to get an understanding. I know the perception is, for example, that a partly upheld or partly sustained finding can be very minor, and it can be. Equally, on the other side, I issued a finding recently where it was not fully upheld but the substantive part of it was upheld. Without getting into the detail of which they are, anything that brings transparency is welcome. We are quite open to the change that is proposed or to any of that type of change. We have suggested, and have urged caution, that it needs to be carefully tied in to the publication so we do not lose the benefits of that. The ultimate transparency is the proposal in the Bill that provides for publication as well. We believe that would help. We are open to the changes that are proposed and anything that would make our findings more transparent and understandable individually and collectively.