Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to comment on section 6. Section 6(1) states that the relevant information will be made available to the State to enable us to identify factors that influence the cost of insurance. To what end? Who will actually get this information? What are such persons going to do with the information? That is my first point and it is a fundamental issue. There must be transparency. Will a potential new competitor have access to the information referred to in section 6(1)?

The section also brings up questions of delegation. This is the trend in the legislation. The language of this section includes phrases like "in the opinion of the bank", "special consideration of any views expressed by the Minister" and "shall be carried out from time to time as occasion requires". This is the opposite of what we need to be doing, which is to bring in far more robust legislation that is not as opaque as this section appears to be. There is concern – it arises throughout the Bill – that notwithstanding my support for the purpose of the Bill, the language is rather opaque. My fundamental question relates to the information in section 6(1). What is the State going to do with this information upon getting it? To what end will the State collect the information? Will new competitors have access to the information referred to?