Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I cannot accommodate this suggestion at such short notice. I have not yet received any correspondence from the Financial Services Ombudsman on this issue. However, I also read the reports in question and it is clear a judicial review took place of a decision made by the ombudsman as to how wide an application a recommendation in respect of a specific incident he investigated would have. Like the Deputy, I know no more of this issue than that. I am sure the Financial Services Ombudsman will communicate formally with my Department if he has issues in this regard. We will study the judgment, assess what is involved and ascertain the exact position. However, I cannot make such a commitment at short notice based on the information available to me. We must wait and see what the ombudsman has to say to me formally in this regard.

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