Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 172: To ask the Minister for Finance the options available to a non-business or farming person to appeal a decision of an Irish guaranteed bank to approve facilities for them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18736/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Any decision on whether to grant credit facilities is a commercial decision for an individual lending institution. It is important that each lending institution is allowed to assess properly and independently the individual risks it is considering accepting. However, if a consumer feels he or she has been improperly treated, or has grounds for complaint for some other reason, a complaint may be made directly to the financial institution concerned. If the consumer is not satisfied with the response received from the institution, there may be grounds to forward the complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman, which has statutory powers to investigate complaints against financial service providers. The Financial Services Ombudsman will only consider a case once the internal complaints procedure within the financial institution concerned has been followed. The Credit Review Office was established in March 2010 by my predecessor. The purpose of the office is to ensure the credit system is operating effectively for small and medium sized enterprises, including sole traders and farm enterprises. The office will, on application from a borrower who is a farmer or a small or medium sized enterprise, carry out an independent review of a NAMA participating bank's decision to refuse or reduce credit. The office will not hear appeals from those not engaged in business.