Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 43:

In page 30, line 27, after "providers" to insert the following:

", but the Council shall not impose any levies or fees until such time as the Consultative Industry Panel has been established pursuant to section 57DA of this Act".

This amendment deals with the Ombudsman's council, one of the functions of which is to impose fees for the cost of the completing its work. As matters stand the council can proceed to introduce those fees. My amendment proposes that this should not occur until the consultative panel has been established so that the views of the industry can be heard before the fee structure is introduced. Concerns have been raised by, for example, the credit unions about the cost of these procedures. They have expressed the view that the Ombudsman should only rule after provisions internal to the credit unions have been exhausted. As there are concerns as to how this should work and given that the Minister is establishing a consultative industry panel, it would be prudent to get the views of industry before introducing fees.

See this speech in context