The Data Protection Commissioner, Joe Meade, has been named as the country's first Financial Services Ombudsman.
The Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau was established on a statutory basis under the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2004 and opened for business on 1 April.
The Financial Services Ombudsman, as an independent officer, is to ensure that unresolved complaints from customers of regulated financial service providers are investigated, mediated and adjudicated fairly within a statutory framework and under regulations made by the Financial Services Ombudsman Council.
The existing voluntary Ombudsman for Credit Institutions and the Insurance Ombudsman of Ireland schemes are being incorporated into the new bureau. Existing complaints still being processed will be carried forward to the new scheme.
The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, welcomed Mr Meade's appointment. 'The establishment of the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau is an important further step in ensuring that the consumer of financial services gets a fair deal,' Mr Cowen said.
'Providing a simple way for an aggrieved customer to get redress is in everyone's interest - a fact that was already recognised by the banking and insurance industries when they established their non-statutory ombudsman schemes,' he added.
