Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Members from all sides who have contributed to this debate. I have sat through the three hours of the debate and have been very impressed by the quality and constructiveness of their contributions. We have had a very good debate. I also acknowledge and thank the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and his colleagues for accepting this Bill in the spirit with which it was offered. It is a straight-forward sensible piece of legislation and the fact the Government is willing to accept it is good. I hope we can co-operate on other issues in a similar manner. I urge the Government now to press ahead with this much needed reform. It is of little concern to me whether it presses ahead on the basis of the Bill I have published or on the basis of one it will bring forward. I just want to see the legislation introduced as quickly as possible. If the template I have provided facilitates the legislation being accelerated, I urge the Government to embrace it and to make it happen without further delay. There is no need for delay.

I want to take this opportunity to urge consumers who have outstanding grievances and issues to raise those with the Financial Services Ombudsman. Since that office was founded in 2005, thousands of consumers have found redress they would not otherwise have got. They had failed to get satisfaction from the institutions concerned, having gone through the internal complaints procedures. However, when their cases were taken to the ombudsman and independently evaluated, their complaints were upheld. This happened in 1,800 instances last year alone. Therefore, thousands of people have benefited and this is welcome.

I urge the Minister of State to consider a particular issue. Currently, the ombudsman is precluded from considering any matter six years old or older. I have come across more than one case, particularly in the area of investment products and mortgage protection policies, where it only becomes apparent later in the life of the product that it was mis-sold originally. I ask for this issue to be considered. It should also be highlighted that the ombudsman can also assist limited companies, charities, trusts and partnerships. While companies have recourse to John Trethowan's office in respect of credit decisions, they may also have other issues with financial service providers that can be raised with the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman. This is not widely known and the Government should highlight it through the various representative bodies. It should make it known that companies with a turnover of less than €3 million can avail of the facility.

The benefits of this Bill are clear and have been well recited last night and tonight. I have no doubt that if we had this legislation in place and could look back at the complaints records set out in previous ombudsmen's reports, we would see clear patterns of culpability.

At the moment, consumers are in the dark when entering into arrangements with providers in the absence of having that critical information. I have no doubt that the adoption of this Bill will serve to improve standards across the industry. There are many excellent performers who will also benefit because their high standard of performance will be highlighted. I wish to emphasise this point because it will be an important tool to give to the ombudsman.

In conclusion, I thank the Government for its support of this Bill and all the Members who contributed to the debate and I urge the Government to move swiftly, to take on board the comments by the former ombudsman, Joe Meade, and by Bill Prasifka. They have shone a light on areas of malpractice, on situations in which people have been treated disgracefully in many cases and this is an opportunity for us to assist them. I urge the House to enact this legislation as quickly as possible.

See this speech in context