Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to sit among them. They have an exceptional record in local government where I worked with them for many years and across the country, as I would with any other group. The bottom line is that we should talk about policy more than personalities. It is not about playing politics. Everyone in here has a mandate. We are elected by the people. Members of Sinn Féin are here. That makes a change from a lot of other people, who do not tend to be here when they propose legislation. That is for another day.

I acknowledge the work Deputy Pearse Doherty has done on the Bill. We are talking about a relationship between financial institutions and the consumer. The consumer has got a bad deal. There are not too many politicians here from other parties. Enough politicians have belly-ached in the other House about the raw deal for the consumer but many of them have done sweet damn all about it. It is important that this is good legislation. As for going on to the next Stage and tweaking the Bill, sometimes it is important that we accept Bills and the good faith of the people who put in the effort and presented a solid proposal to us.

Let us ask what the Bill will do in simple terms for the people we represent. I understand the Bill empowers the Financial Services Ombudsman to investigate complaints. That is positive. That is good. We have no reason to oppose that. Second, it places greater pressure on financial service providers to engage in the mediation process, because the record shows people have not been prepared to enter into mediation. We know that from our neighbours, families and friends who have found themselves in financial difficulties with the banks and there has not been willingness to engage. They may now be willing to engage with us because things have moved on a bit.The reality is that people are facing the inevitable. That has to be good. It allows for a greater range of findings on completion of an investigation. That has to be positive. It gives consumers more power. People should have a legitimate expectation when they go into a process that they can get something out of it and that is good. The Bill will also allow for an appeal to be taken to the Circuit Court rather than the High Court. I will not give a lecture to people on a Bill that they have prepared and which they know better than I do. It will have my full support.