Mr. Ger Deering:

We have taken a very strong approach, particularly recently, in trying to bring in complaints. Again, it comes back to operating in an informal way. One of the things we do, even if there is an issue about whether we have jurisdiction, is say to providers and complainants where they are in dispute: "Engage in the dispute resolution process, get into mediation to see if they can solve this, or we will investigate whether we have jurisdiction." If we reach a certain stage where we do not have jurisdiction and the parties are not willing to agree, we will not progress the case to adjudication.

I will address the second part of the Chairman's question. We have a memorandum of understanding with the Central Bank. Not infrequently I make reports to it when I find something. It might concern one individual case, as the Chairman outlined, but I take the view that it could have a broader reach and could have happened to other consumers. It could happen two reasons; I would consider the conduct to be either particularly egregious or possibly systemic. In these cases we would certainly report to the Central Bank. Generally, those involved are regulated financial services providers and their regulatory body is the Central Bank. That is where we would certainly report the behaviour about which the committee is talking.