Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the number of applications made to the Financial Ombudsman by bank customers relating to banking issues in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40527/12]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the number of applications made to the Financial Ombudsman and the number of which the Financial Ombudsman recommended should enter into mediation with their banks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40532/12]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the number of requests for mediation refused by the banks when customers had referred their banking issues to the Financial Ombudsman [40535/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 to 126, inclusive, together.

Firstly, I must point out that the Financial Services Ombudsman is independent in the carrying out of his statutory functions. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on how he performs those functions.

The Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau has informed me that his office has received the following number of complaints from consumers in relation to banking issues:

The number of complaints received by the FSO in relation to the banks has increased each year including to date in 2012.

Mediation, while an integral part of the Financial Services Ombudsman’s process, is an informal method of trying to resolve a dispute. It is offered to each party after the internal complaints procedure of a financial services provider (e.g. Bank) has been exhausted by the complainant. There is no obligation on either party to accept the offer of mediation. The Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau has advised me that, in the majority of cases, it is not taken up by either party. The Bureau does not keep a record of refusals by banks to proceed to mediation.

Since the Financial Services Ombudsman commenced processing complaints in 2005, mediation was offered in each case. In 2011, 15 cases were referred to full mediation i.e. where the two parties met with a mediator. I have also been advised that a total of only 23 cases were ever resolved through mediation. If mediation is not taken up by either party or is unsuccessful, the file is sent for investigation and ultimately, adjudication by the Financial Services Ombudsman.