Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very simple, recommendations numbers one, two and three have all been blocked by the insurance industry to date. That is the Ladybird version of what I saying. Recommendation No. 6 is a protocol to ensure a greater consistency of treatment for returning emigrants. We hear again, following a review by the Department, insurers are being asked to ensure this information is displayed more prominently on their website to it is accessible and visible. They are messing again and doing the bare minimum.

Recommendation No. 8 is a protocol for policy holders to be notified of claims made against them before settlement. Here the insurers are brazenly blocking the Minister. He wrote to them a year ago but they are still playing hardball. For something as simple as notifying policy holders of claims made against them, they are forcing him to go through the route of legislation.

That is the pattern with a number of key recommendations in the report. The report is now a year old. Many people who are paying these premiums thought it was just a matter of getting through an obstacle after the work this committee did in shining a light on what was happening in the insurance industry and how people were being fleeced. When is the Minister going to start playing hardball with the insurance industry? It is very clear to me and to my constituents that this industry is rolling him over time and time again in these recommendations.