Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Committee on Public Petitions

Engagement with Financial Services Ombudsman

1:30 pm

Ms Elaine Cassidy:

I will add to Mr. Deering's answer. There is one particular group that has been in the past very unlikely to come to us. I refer to those who have possibly been put off by the thinking that a consumer is an individual person. The definition of "consumer" is very wide and covers farmers and small to medium-sized businesses. Often, in these cases, the family home and the business are quite interlinked. We should not cause an awful lot more stress. It is well worth politicians' time getting out there and informing people that our services cover not only individuals, but also those groups.