New Chairperson and Members Appointed to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D., has announced the appointment as of 1 June 2025 of a new Chairperson and two new ordinary Members to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council.

Ann Duffy, who is currently an ordinary Member of the Council, has been appointed Chairperson of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council.

James Doorly and Helen Kelly have both been appointed to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council for five-year terms.

Commenting on the appointments, Minister Donohoe said:

The appointments follows a public call for applications on publicjobs.ie and a rigorous assessment process.

Notes to Editors

Ann Duffy

Ann Duffy was appointed as an ordinary Member of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council in January 2021.

Ms Duffy is an Independent Non-Executive Director and currently serves on the Board of the Rehab Group. In her executive career as Director Corporate Affairs at Fyffes plc, she gained extensive experience of pensions and familiarity with the regulatory framework in Ireland and the UK. She is experienced in both the theory and practice of good corporate governance through her role as an Independent Non-Executive Director and having attained the Institute of Directors Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction. She also has significant Audit and Risk Committee experience and currently chairs the Audit & Risk Committee for Rehab and is an external member of the Audit Committee of Trinity College Dublin.

Ms. Duffy is a law graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

James Doorley

James Doorley has served as Secretary General of the Irish Chamber of Shipping since 2022. He previously worked in a leadership capacity in a range of charities, such as with the National Youth Council of Ireland and Disability Federation of Ireland.

James is currently Deputy Chairperson of the Press Council of Ireland, which is an independent body overseeing press regulation and promoting freedom of the press. He has extensive consumer policy experience, having served as the Irish member of the European Consumer Consultative Group and is currently a Board member of the Consumer Council of Northern Ireland.

From 2018 to 2024 James was Chairperson of North Leinster Money Advice and Budgeting Service, which supports consumers in debt and financial difficulty. He is an experienced non-executive director, having served on the boards of a number of public bodies. He is Chairperson of the Maynooth University Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland.

James is a graduate of Maynooth University and Trinity College Dublin and has qualifications in social studies, law, and corporate governance. He also has a Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Helen Kelly

Helen Kelly is a Senior Counsel with over 30 years’ experience in EU and Irish competition law.

Helen was formerly Senior Partner at Matheson where she led the EU Competition and Regulatory Group for 21 years. In that role, she advised clients across multiple sectors, including the financial sector, leading transactions and gaining approvals before the European Commission and national regulatory authorities. She is currently a member of the Board of An Post and of the Complaints Committee of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA).

Helen is a law graduate at Trinity College, Dublin and the London School of Economics (LLM) and a solicitor.

Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council was established by Section 37 of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017. The functions of the Council include determining the financial services industry levy, keeping under review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Ombudsman, advising the Minister for Finance on any matter relevant to the performance of the functions of the Ombudsman, and to advise the Ombudsman on any matter on which the Ombudsman seeks advice.

The Council has no role with respect to how the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman deals with a particular complaint submitted to him.

The legislation requires that the Council shall consist of not less than 5 and not more than 7 members (including the chairperson) as the Minster decides.

The current membership of the FSPO Council is as follows: