Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know that. There are 2.5 million customers with policies of this nature who are renewing and are being fleeced. It is our job to protect them. I will make a final comment on this because other members want to come in. I am publishing legislation. We have worked for a number of months on this and have worked with the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers on good legislation that will ban this practice and bring it into line with what has happened in Britain and will make sure that insurance companies cannot involve in this type of price gouging with customers who are renewing, or have a loyalty premium. I ask the Minister of State to support that legislation, which will be before the House in January, and to let it go through all the different phases here with pre-legislative scrutiny and so on, and I am sure we will have the benefit of the Central Bank's final report then. As I said in my opening remarks, I want to work with the Government to try to end the price gouging and the rip-off that is happening in the insurance industry. I hope the Government will see there is real intention here and good legislation that will end a practice that is banned in 20 states in America, and that will be banned in Britain next year. I further hope that the Government will support the legislation and allow it to go to this committee for proper scrutiny and all the necessary steps it will have to go through.