A Cabinet Minister has said Irish banks need to start paying more respect to the public.

Brendan Howlin says banks need to remember the fact that the public has spent billions of euro on bailing them out.

His comments come after the Financial Services Ombudsman reported another increase in the number of complaints referred to his office.

In the first six months of the year over 4,600 complaints were received, half of which were related to insurance.

The bi-annual review, by Financial Ombudsman William Prasifka, has revealed the Payment Protection Insurance complaints increased by 150%.

Mr. Prasifka said earlier his office is finding it difficult to deal with the heavy workload and he wants financial institutions to show they are engaging with customers.

While the Public Expenditure Minister says banks must treat their customers better.