IFSRA helpline gets over 11,000 calls

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) received more than 11,000 calls to its consumer helpline in its first year of operation.

The financial watchdog said, on the publication of its progress report yesterday, that it had resolved 97 per cent of the 2,500 specific issues raised by consumers regarding their dealings with financial services providers.

Almost one-third of the queries handled by IFSRA from its establishment on May 1st, 2003, to the end of April this year, related to banking services.

IFSRA analysed 51,000 returns from the financial companies it regulates, conducting 437 review meetings and on-site inspections.

The regulator also met 244 credit union representatives at regional meetings and authorised 665 new financial services firms and funds.

It is now responsible for the ongoing supervision of 6,835 separate financial services providers.

IFSRA was set up as a single financial regulator, amalgamating some of the roles previously carried out by the Central Bank, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

Mr Liam O'Reilly, IFSRA's chief executive, said the size and scale of the regulator's tasks could never be underestimated.

"The financial services industry is an integral component of Irish society and it is therefore in all of our interests that it remains competitive and that we continue to work to maintain public confidence in it," he said.

The regulator has produced 18 publications, including independent consumer guides on mortgages, savings and investments and credit, and a motor insurance cost survey.

However, its most high-profile actions have related to the recent overcharging scandal at AIB.