Financial ombudsman - Effectiveness in jeopardy

Earlier this week, the State Examinations Commission blamed human error and spending cuts for errors in some of this year’s second level exam papers.

That position was echoed yesterday by the Financial Services Ombudsman Bill Prasifka, who warned that his office is struggling to cope with the soaring level of complaints — up 25% in six months — and that breaking point was looming.

In the context of the mortgage arrears crisis, this must be addressed, especially as individuals can so easily be outgunned and disadvantaged by financial institutions.