Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I concur with both speakers and add my thanks to FLAC and the Ombudsmen for the work they do. All of us have significant engagement with them and they do great work on the ground. The Government fully supports the intention behind the Bill. The Minister for Finance strongly supports the intention, and his legislation to consolidate and update the role of the ombudsman is a priority on the Government's legislative programme. There has been an extensive consultation process which has included a regulatory impact analysis, a public consultation, meetings with consumer and industry representatives and engagement with key stakeholders. Consideration has been given to a very broad range of issues.

Many of the issues covered by Deputy Pearse Doherty's Private Members' Bill being discussed today are provided for in some fashion in the draft heads of the Bill which have been published. The heads of the Bill are, perhaps, more comprehensive in some ways. They cover many more issues related to the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Pensions Ombudsman under one unitary structure to be known as the financial services and pensions ombudsman. Some proposals may go further than those suggested by Deputy Pearse Doherty, for example, the question as to whether the change to time limits for complaints will be retrospective. The draft heads do not provide for any commencement date of the legislation as of yet. The appropriate commencement date for particular provisions, such as the extension of a time limit for complaints to the ombudsman, is a matter that must be considered very carefully and fully during the legislative process, especially during the pre-legislative scrutiny. The appropriate commencement date must be carefully considered during the course of the drafting of the Bill in very close consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General.

The definition of "consumer" as set out in the Minister's draft heads of Bill includes a person or group of persons, that is, a natural person, sole trader, club or charity and incorporated bodies with a turnover of €3 million or less. It seems this definition is broader than the definition in the Private Members' Bill, which is limited to natural persons and incorporated bodies. The date of knowledge test proposed does not provide for the possibility of commencement or the limitation period from the date the consumer ought to have become aware of the conduct complained of. The Bill refers to becoming aware of the consequences of the conduct. This would be a further departure from the limitation period as currently formulated for complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman, which refers to the knowledge of the act as opposed to the consequences.

The recent changes to the Pensions Act has enabled the appointment of the Financial Services Ombudsman, Ger Deering, as Pensions Ombudsman following the retirement of Paul Kenny. The appointment was made pending the passing of legislation by the Minister for Finance to merge the two offices together. We are happy to consider further proposals during the legislative process when a more comprehensive set of heads of the Bill should be debated. We are not opposing the Private Members' Bill. As Deputy Michael McGrath said, three Bills have come together and the Minister suggests the issues should be debated further during the passage of the Minister's detailed and comprehensive heads of Bill, including any pre-legislative scrutiny. It is a matter for discussion and it is welcome that there is a shared ambition as to where we wish to end up. I thank Deputy Pearse Doherty and apologise for my congested delivery. Winter is coming.

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