David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The number of complaints to the Financial Services Ombudsman last year rose considerably. Many of those complaints related to insurance and a number of them related to the delay in making claims and the difficulty in making claims in the first place. Delays in payouts was the big complaint. Will the Minister of State undertake to look at what is available to the consumer? Perhaps a faster and more efficient way can be put in place to deal with delayed payouts. Even the Financial Services Ombudsman is under pressure. If people are left waiting for a payment, and have to borrow money in the interim, that puts considerable pressure on businesses that are already suffering. Anything the Minister of State can do in that regard would be very welcome. I acknowledge the Minister of State's response when he said he will take up the issue with the insurance industry and I thank him for that.

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