Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding the establishment and activities to date of the credit review office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17228/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Following Government approval on 30 March the Credit Review Office (CRO) was launched on 1 April. The Office is independent and will provide an independent opinion of the banks' decisions on whether the credit should have been granted or not. It commenced operation on 7 April and while it is clearly very early in the process the first applications for review arrived last week. A website, www.creditreview.ie, and a telephone helpline have been set up in conjunction with the launch of the office. By last week the website had received over 1200 hits, while the helpline had received almost 100 calls. Two fulltime staff are working in the Office and further staff will be engaged if required. Mr. John Trethowan, the head of the CRO, has engaged six underwriters with extensive experience in bank lending to assist in the review process on a case by case basis. Again, should the need arise, further underwriters may be contracted.

Mr. Trethowan has undertaken a number of media engagements in order to publicise the availability of the Office and advertisements have been placed in the main national newspapers. Both Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank have placed leaflets advertising the Office in their branches. In addition, both banks have agreed to include leaflets in correspondence to a customer where an application for credit has been rejected.