Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The ombudsman raises revenue through levies on financial transactions. The question is really one of who is going to pay the pensions or who is going to accept liability for them and whether these liabilities are going to appear on the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman's accounts or are going to be carried by the Department of Finance. The office has been collecting employee contributions for pensions and making employer pension contributions. As far as the ombudsman is concerned, that is it; the money goes over to the Department of Finance or into the Exchequer, out of which the liabilities will be paid in the future. There is therefore no risk if the liabilities are greater or lesser. That is the nub of the thing. The problem is that this has been dragging on for a considerable period. I believe it has been six years at this stage. There seems to be no way of arriving at a final resolution of the matter.