Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:“Requirement to hold oral hearings

10. Where a complainant has made a request to hold an oral hearing, and where there is a discrepancy in the account of events between the parties that is fundamental to arriving at a conclusion, the Financial Service Ombudsman shall be obliged to hold an oral hearing.”.

This amendment was tabled on Committee Stage. It is a requirement to hold oral hearings. Specifically, it provides that where a complainant has made a request to hold an oral hearing and there is a discrepancy in the account of events between the parties that is fundamental to arriving at a conclusion, the Financial Services Ombudsman shall be obliged to hold such an oral hearing. This comes out of the 2014 FLAC report to address the imbalance. It does not make it mandatory. Rather, it seeks to provide that there shall be a hearing when a complainant has made the request and there is a discrepancy. There will be many situations where that does not arise. I appreciate there may be resource implications for the Financial Services Ombudsman but it removes some of the discretion it currently has which would be helpful to those looking for an oral hearing where there is a discrepancy. They will get an oral hearing in circumstances where, at the moment, the power is all in the ombudsman's hands rather than those of the consumer.