Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Financial Services Ombudsman has provided a mechanism for people who have been badly treated by banks, financial institutions and insurance institutions to seek to have consumer issues redressed. Is the Minister aware that the Financial Services Ombudsman has recently withdrawn from an investigation that he had undertaken on people transferring insurance products? The suggestion is that the legislation has been deemed to be inadequate. For people who shop around for insurance services, some insurance companies levy charges for changing service providers. That constitutes an inhibition on people transferring services.

If the Minister has had an opportunity in this section to consider the relationship between the ombudsman and the Financial Regulator, does this imply he has had, or his officials have had, an opportunity to undertake a review of how the Financial Services Ombudsman is operating? A number of comments have appeared in the financial press reporting that he has undertaken investigations. While he has been successful in getting redress and satisfaction for customers of financial and insurance institutions in some cases, in others he has suggested strongly that the legislation has been inadequate. Has the Minister had an opportunity to be briefed on this issue?

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