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

I have been told that the FSPO was created by merging the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Pensions Ombudsman and the levy system design reflects that since the 2017 Act. I do not know if that clarifies the matter for Deputy Doherty but if not we can come back to him with a more comprehensive answer.

Section 3 outlines and updates the methodology for calculating expenses via a percentage split charged to the financial services ombudsman sector by a levy for financial services complaints, and expenses charged to the Exchequer for pensions cases. That was the question raised by the Deputy and that has been the case since the merger of the two ombudsmen in the 2017 Act.

The main updates proposed by this Bill are to calculate the percentage split between the industry and Exchequer funding over the three immediately preceding financial years as opposed to the previous financial year as is currently provided for in the 2017 Act, and to update the term “dealt with by the Ombudsman” to “received by the Ombudsman".

By providing for a calculation of expenses over a three-year period, any spikes, or the opposite, with regard to a certain type of complaints received during the year would not dramatically affect the calculation of expenses in a given year. That will provide certainty in terms of the resources for the ombudsman. Updating the term “dealt with” to “received by” makes it easier to identify when a complaint has been received as opposed to when it has been dealt with. This is the metric used in practice used by the FSPO and provides more clarity and transparency for the calculation of expenses.

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