Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Doherty and understand where he is coming from. The Minister does have regular engagement with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman and we can commit to keeping the matter under review and on our radar in the regular engagement.

In respect of the amendments, as the Deputies are aware, we undertake post enactment to carry out scrutiny of all legislation. This includes the requirement under Dáil Standing Orders that a post-enactment report be produced and laid 12 months after the enactment of legislation in the parliamentary Library. This 12-month post-enactment period provides a more appropriate timeframe in which to consider the operation of new legislation, particularly in this case in respect of extending the scope of the FSPO's jurisdiction. The FSPO is also accountable to the public accounts committee under section 22 of the 2017 principal Act and to other Oireachtas committees under section 23 of that Act. In recent years, representatives of the FSPO have also appeared regularly before the Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen.

In addition, a range of parliamentary procedures are available to all Deputies, and I have committed to engaging with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to ensure he will keep this on the radar in his engagements. It is available to all Deputies to seek updates on the FSPO by way of parliamentary questions and I have no doubt the Deputies will use that opportunity themselves. Under section 25 of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017, the FSPO publishes a comprehensive annual overview of complaints, while under section 62 of that Act, it also publishes decisions on complaints against financial service providers and case studies of decisions on complaints against pension providers subject to the requirements of the Act. Accordingly, while it was not proposed to accept the Deputies' amendments, I appreciate that they did not move them and I give a commitment to engaging with the Minister and requesting that, in his ongoing engagement with the FSPO, he will keep this on the radar.

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