Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate there is a distinction and rightly so. However, in some people's minds these short-term products are long-term products. We are having this pre-legislative scrutiny of the heads of the Bill to ensure it covers as many cases as possible. I completely agree with Mr. Deering's view and, as I said earlier, from my point of view there is a marked improvement in the operation of his office. Would it be helpful for the legislation to allow additional scope to adjudicate on products that were automatically renewed and to allow assessments of them to continue?

It is not a case where a person takes an insurance product and three years later they go with another company and then back to another company. If it was a case where the person said that he or she did not contact the company but the company kept sending out the renewal slips and it just automatically happened - then there would be flexibility for the ombudsman to actually extend the period in cases like that. It is linked to the original question around the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman's discretion with regard to the timeframes. Would there be a requirement to do that in relation to this part of the heads of the Bill?