Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 30, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“(6) The Minister may from time to time advance to the Ombudsman, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such sums as the Minister may determine for the purposes of the performance of the functions relating to superannuation conferred on the Financial Services Ombudsman Council by the Act of 1942.”.

The current legislation, which is the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013, includes a provision in Part 1 of Schedule 2 that contains the text of the proposed amendment. The text was not transposed into the Government Bill in error. The proposed amendment seeks to address this gap. It is a technical amendment to restore the position to that which currently exists.

There are separate existing superannuation schemes, one covering the Ombudsman and deputy Ombudsman and another covering the staff of the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau. The administration of these schemes comes under the aegis of the council at present and will pass to the ombudsman under the amalgamation. The intention is that surplus funds in these schemes will be paid into the Exchequer with a view to these funds being returned when they are needed to pay superannuation benefits. However, section 3(2)(b) only permits the Minister to make payments in respect of complaints regarding pension providers. This additional enabling provision is required to allow the Minister to make these payments in respect of the superannuation schemes.

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