Interim finance watchdog named

AN interim Financial Services ombudsman has been appointed to replace Joe Meade who retired on January 2 at the age of 60.

PJ Fitzpatrick, former chief executive of the Courts Service, took up his temporary post on January 4 while a successor to Joe Meade is being recruited.

Details of the appointment were announced yesterday by the Financial Services Ombudsman Council. The public recruitment process got under way in November.

Interviews will be held in mid-January by the Public Appointments Service after which the council will appoint the replacement ombudsman which is an independent statutory office set up on April 1, 2005.

Its function is to ensure that unresolved complaints from customers of financial service companies including banks and the insurance sector are dealt with through mediation or investigation, depending on the complexity of the case.

In addition, the ombudsman has authority to pay compensation to wronged individuals up to a maximum €250,000, that are binding on both sides and are subject only to appeal to the High Court.

During his five years in office Mr Meade refunded over €60 million to consumers. In his last year in office he dealt with 7,800 complaints which was an increase of 30% on 2008.

In a recent interview Mr Meade said over the five years he had seen a considerable shift in attitude to the role provided by the ombudsman.

That was particularly noticeable among financial institutions over the past 12 months, he said.