Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Finance if the investigation services division of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman has increased in terms of its resources; if so, the current number of complaints currently within that division; if the number of complaints increased during 2024; the current average timeframe for a complaint, once referred to the formal investigation process, to be completed by adjudication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5928/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is an independent and impartial statutory body that helps to resolve complaints from consumers, including small businesses and other organisations, about the conduct of regulated financial service providers and pension providers.

It plays an important role in the robust consumer protection framework in place in Ireland to support consumers of financial products and services.

The number of staff sanctioned in the FSPO was increased from 90 to 128 following the approval of the FSPO’s workforce plan in December 2023 by the Minister for Finance. This increase was necessary due to the increasing number of complaints being made to the FSPO. In 2023 alone, the number of complaints being received by the FSPO increased by almost 30% from 4,781 to 6,182.

Notwithstanding the increase in the number of complaints being received, the average length of time for a complaint to be closed within the FSPO is reducing, from 10 months in 2022 to 8.6 months in 2024.

85% of complaints are closed within 12 months, mainly through early-stage processes and mediation. The FSPO has succeeded in reducing the average time to closure of complaints by proactively leveraging these processes.

Certain more complex complaints, including those requiring a formal adjudication take longer to resolve. This reflects the fact that adjudications by the Ombudsman are legally binding and accordingly, it is important that every decision arrived at, has followed due process and allowed both parties to make submissions and offer observations on the evidence and on the other party’s submissions, as appropriate.

The process whereby each party can make observations on the other party’s submissions continues until both parties are satisfied that they have nothing further to add.

In order to meet the challenge of investigating and adjudicating on these complex complaints, the staff headcount in the Investigation Services Division in the FSPO is being increased.

In January 2024 there were 16 members of staff in the Investigation Services Division. Due to recruitment throughout the year, there were 28 members of staff by the end of 2024. The FSPO also has an ongoing recruitment for a panel of decision drafters and expects to have six additional members of staff in place in the coming months.

There were 2,853 complaints in the Investigation Services Division as at 12 February 2025. At the end of 2024 there were 2,807 complaints and at the end of 2023 there were 2,571 complaints.

Complaints that enter the formal investigation process can be closed primarily through a legally binding decision or settlement.

The current average timeframe for a non-tracker mortgage complaint, once referred to the formal investigation process and then closed within the formal investigation process is 28 months. The time scales for tracker mortgage complaints have been longer and when these are included the average length of time to closure is 34 months.

Tracker mortgage complaints take much longer to resolve. While the volume of new tracker mortgage complaints has fallen since 2018, the FSPO is still receiving tracker mortgage complaints. In 2018 when the FSPO was established, it inherited 600 tracker complaints and received 700 additional tracker complaints in that year alone.

The timelines for tracker mortgage complaints have also been impacted by periods when some complaints were on hold, for example due to the Tracker Mortgage Examination conducted by the Central Bank of Ireland or due to statutory appeals to the High Court.