Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the practice of a bank refusing to consider loan applications from anybody benefiting from the family income supplement; his views on whether this practice is arbitrary and discriminatory; and his further views on whether it is in line with best practice and regulations set down by the Central Bank of Ireland. [9177/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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From a consumer protection perspective, Chapter 5 of the Consumer Protection Code 2012 imposes knowing the customer and suitability requirements on regulated entities, including banks. This chapter includes the specific requirement that prior to offering, recommending, arranging or providing a credit product to a personal consumer, a lender must carry out an assessment of affordability to ascertain the personal consumer s likely ability to repay the debt, over the duration of the agreement.

It is not in the interest of the consumer or the bank  that credit be granted which the consumer cannot afford to repay.

On the issue more generally, if a customer has made a formal complaint to the financial service provider in question about the refusal to provide a service and is not satisfied with the outcome, then the matter should be referred to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

The Financial Services Ombudsman investigates, in an impartial and independent manner, complaints from individual customers and small businesses who have unresolved disputes with financial service providers which are either regulated by the Central Bank or, are subject to the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1995.  All personal customers, unincorporated bodies, charities, clubs, partnerships, trusts, and limited companies with a turnover of €3,000,000 or less can complain to the Ombudsman.

Investigations by the Financial Services Ombudsman are free of charge to the customer.