Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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116. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps he will take to address a situation whereby any errors in a person's credit rating as published by the Irish Credit Bureau may remain uncorrected for up to 18 months, which is the length of time it can take for the Financial Services Ombudsman to deal with a complaint regarding such errors. [7522/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Firstly, I must point out that the Irish Credit Bureau is a private company and it is obliged to collect and manage the personal data in its possession in compliance with relevant data protection legislation. By law, financial institutions must ensure that information they hold or give to anyone else, including the Irish Credit Bureau, about an individual is correct and up to date. A person who discovers errors in their credit report should ask the lender to correct these details. If they are not satisfied with the actions of the lender and they fail to resolve the matter through the internal complaints mechanism, they could consider making a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO) about the lender. The FSO does not deal with complaints about the Irish Credit Bureau. Alternatively the matter could be referred to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Steps are now under way for the establishment of a mandatory credit reporting system on a statutory basis. The Credit Reporting Act 2013 provides that the Central Bank of Ireland shall establish, maintain and operate a statutory central credit register. Under the Act there will be an onus on credit information providers to take reasonable steps to verify that the information it obtains from its customers for the purposes of the register is accurate and complete. Also, in addition to the protections and rights available under the Data Protection Acts, borrowers will also have the right to obtain their credit report at any time and they will also be entitled to request the correction of any information on the register relating to them where it is inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date. As previously indicated, the Central Credit Register is being implemented on a phased basis with phase 1 focusing on lending to consumers and phase 2 focusing on lending to businesses. Data submission by lenders for phase 1 will commence after 30 June 2017. 

I should also state that the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO) is independent in the performance of his statutory functions.

However, I have been informed by the Financial Services Ombudsman that he has adopted a new model of Dispute Resolution since February 2016. This new model involves considerably more interaction with the parties, particularly in terms of speaking with the parties at an early stage of the process and attempting to resolve their complaint through mediation. I understand that this approach is delivering a faster, more efficient and effective service and that the majority of complaints are now being resolved through this means. The Financial Services Ombudsman aims to complete 80% of complaints, resolved through mediation, within a 3 month period. 

If a settlement is not reached through mediation, the complaint will be progressed to investigation and adjudication. This is a more formal and lengthy process as all the evidence must be gathered, exchanged and considered in accordance with fair procedures. The adjudication process is more formal than the dispute resolution process and will occasionally require an oral hearing where evidence is taken under oath. The Ombudsman has informed me that the length of time taken to adjudicate will depend on the number of exchanges that take place between the parties. Typically this can take about 4-6 months. The Ombudsman's aim is to issue a finding within 3 months of when the exchanges between the parties are complete (in 90% of cases).