FSO received record number of complaints in March

The Financial Services Ombudsman has said much more needs to be done to begin to restore public confidence in the sector.

Bill Prasifka's office received a record number of complaints last month.

The office of the Financial Services Ombudsman received just under 3, 600 complaints in the second half of last year.

That number is down slightly on figures for the first six months of this year.

But July to December did show a significant jump of 41% in complaints related to mortgages.

Overall the figures show the area of insurance is mostly likely to be at the centre of a complaint, making up nearly 50% of the reports.

The Ombudsman awarded more than €2.6m in compensation in total last year; a figure which Mr Prasifka said shows some financial institutions are still not making efforts to resolve complaints sooner.