Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Amendment No. 48, which is tabled by Deputy Ó Caoláin and I, seeks to insert the phrase "brought by the consumer" into this section of the Bill. I mentioned it earlier to the Minister for Finance and I now mention it to the Minister of State because he seems to be continuing the custom that the Minister for Finance has adopted in this Bill. At no point on Report Stage has the Minister accepted any amendment that mentions the word "consumer". He has proposed only one amendment with the word "consumer" in it, and that was to delete the term elsewhere in the Bill. That is curious in a Bill which is meant to promote the concept of consumer protection. There are references to consumers throughout the Bill, but when we as the Opposition propose amendments which seek to strengthen the consumer role in this process and the area of consumer protection, it is curious that this Government is unwilling to accept the arguments.

Deputy Bruton noted that this is an area which involves legal difficulties. We cannot charge agencies with being parallel courts or with contesting legal proceedings which are already in place. However, there is also the question of scales of justice in terms of the levels of remuneration being sought and the monetary cost to the individual in any particular instance. We must have flexible procedures to allow this to happen. On the other hand, if consumers were following legal actions through the courts system that would forbid them from taking an action with IFSRA or the financial services ombudsman, it is also open to financial institutions to frustrate, delay and deny justice for consumers by taking legal proceedings against them. For those reasons we need to look very closely at this matter and allow the flexibility the consumer needs to make sure that his or her rights can be enforced quickly and efficiently in a way this section of the Bill will not allow. It will further frustrate consumers to be caught up in the legal system at larger personal cost and at very little inconvenience to the financial institutions which very often should find themselves compensating individuals who have been wronged by the way in which those institutions have been providing their services.

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