The recruitment process for appointing a new statutory financial services ombudsman is "at a fairly advanced stage", the Department of Finance has confirmed.

The new ombudsman will adjudicate on consumer complaints about financial services firms.

However, the person for the job has not yet been appointed, just two days before the office is due to come into existence.

From April 1st, the two existing voluntary industry schemes, the insurance ombudsman and the ombudsman for credit institutions, will be amalgamated in one statutory scheme under the auspices of the financial services ombudsman.

The current insurance ombudsman, Caroline Gill, and the ombudsman for credit institutions, Gerry Murphy, have both been given the role of deputy ombudsman under the new structure.

The offices of the financial services ombudsman will be located at the premises of the current insurance ombudsman, Ms Gill, at 32 Upper Merrion Street in Dublin.

The Financial Services Ombudsman Council is an independent body appointed by the former minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy, last September.

The council is expected to give details on Friday about how consumers can make complaints, as well as the terms of reference for the new body.

However, it is not certain that the financial services ombudsman will be appointed by this date.

Dermott Jewell, the chief executive of the Consumers' Association who also sits on the Financial Services Ombudsman Council, said that the establishment of a single ombudsman scheme was good news for consumers.

"It opens up an identifiable source for how to progress with a complaint," he said.

The financial regulator, Ifsra, will refer all future complaints that it receives via its consumer helpline to the ombudsman.