Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Downey and thank him for his presentation. When he talks about preserving the community rated model, which we all accept, he states:

Competition to date has been solely focused on attracting and retaining younger lives and in order to preserve the community rated market it is essential that companies are not rewarded for doing this.

Would he like to explain what he means by “not rewarded for doing this”? They are operating in an open and competitive marketplace. From where would the reward come? The meaning of the sentence is not very clear to me. In an open and competitive market such as this companies make the effort to attract a cohort of new business and one would expect a natural reward to come from their efforts. I would not see the reward as being in conflict. Surely they are entitled to a reward for their efforts to attract new business.

That of itself would not be in conflict with the retention and preservation of the community-rated approach. That would be my understanding of it. Maybe there is something I am missing in that and Mr. Downey can help me to better understand it.

Mr. Downey has said the immediate priority for the VHI in 2015 is to secure authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland and, he says, the Central Bank is continuing to assess the application to determine the VHI's readiness. Would he explain, readiness for what? Would he elaborate on what exactly the application refers to? What is it that the VHI is readying itself to undertake, other than its traditional core business? Is there some new departure under the Central Bank in terms of what the VHI would seek to address in the future?

We have been asked to meet and question Mr. Downey on his appointment as the new chairperson designate of the VHI. He made the point in his presentation that he was the chairperson of the selection committee that made the selection of the new CEO of the VHI. Does Mr. Downey think there is any conflict in that respect? He chaired the selection committee that determined Mr. O'Dwyer would be the new CEO, and now he has been appointed chairman of the board. Some would say that is altogether too cosy. I am not suggesting that but I am asking Mr. Downey for his view. Would he think that there is any conflict, or that the relationship may be in some way too close, or that it might even compromise the independence of the board from the CEO and those with responsibility for the day-to-day running of the affairs of the company? It is a relevant question. I join with Deputy Kelleher in wishing Mr. Downey well in his new responsibilities.