The number of complaints received by the ombudsman for the credit institutions rose by 28 per cent in the year to the end of September 1998. Following the allegations of malpractice against sections of the banking industry last year, complaints doubled. However, by September, complaints had levelled off and returned to the average rate of recent years.

Overall, complaints about fees and charges rose 50 per cent from 31 to 57, but still represented just 4.3 per cent of all complaints.

About 3 per cent of 41 complaints were related to the First Active flotation, most of them about the eligibility for free shares.

Unfair treatment remains the biggest category of complaint at 39.7 per cent. The next largest category is maladministration, at 23.6 per cent. At the same time, complaints about poor service declined from 85 to 65, or 4.9 per cent.

ATMs only generated 29 complaints, although the ombudsman noted that they generate a good deal of feeling: "Account holders find it hard to accept that their card and PIN were used without their knowledge, and are more inclined to believe that a systems failure was responsible for recording withdrawals which did not take place."

The length of time it took the ombudsman to deal with each case also increased, to 135 days from 118 days, a result of the higher number of complaints and slow responses from institutions.

The ombudsman to the credit institutions, Mr Gerry Murphy, has won a significant widening of his terms of reference.

The ombudsman will now be able to hear complaints from companies with a turnover of £1 million or less, up from £250,000.

Mr Jim Bardon, secretary to the ombudsman's board, said the significance of the decision is that it gives the majority of enterprises in Ireland free access to the ombudsman. "The board welcomes the further widening of the ombudsman's terms of reference," he said.