Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte go dtí an coiste roimh an Uasal Cross agus a chomhghleacaithe. I welcome Mr. Cross and his colleagues to the committee. There were fine words from the Central Bank at the end. There is definitely a lot to do regarding the insurance market. I will delve into that. I have a lot of questions. I will try to get through them as quickly as possible, as time permits.

I welcome the engagement I have had with the Central Bank on the issue of the loyalty penalty, dual pricing, differential pricing or price walking. Many different terms are used in this regard. Back in October 2019, over two years ago, I made that major complaint to the Central Bank and, in fairness, the Governor met with me. We can see the work that has flowed from the initial reports, the final reports and the consultation that is now complete in the Central Bank's decision to ban that practice, which is a victory for consumers. It has been outlined well in the different reports the Central Bank has issued that, for example, if you renewed your motor insurance with the same provider seven times, you would be paying 20% more than the technical premium, that is, the actual cost of insuring you under the policy. For someone paying a premium of €1,000, the actual cost of the policy would be about €800. It is actually worse in respect of home insurance. This is the message that needs to go out from this committee because it will be a while before this is banned. If you have renewed your home insurance six times, you are likely to be one of those paying 24% more than the actual cost of your policy.

With regard to the way in which the Central Bank is going to ban price walking, Mr. Cross will be conscious that, in just over two weeks, dual pricing is to be completely banned in the North of Ireland and in Britain. The way in which this practice was going to be banned was tweaked following the consultation the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA, undertook. Is the Central Bank considering any changes to the way in which it is going to ban price walking on the basis of the submissions it has received so far? Will Mr. Cross give us any information on that? I made a detailed submission to the Central Bank as part of that process. As part of this question, will Mr. Cross also confirm the Central Bank has all the legal powers necessary to ban this practice and that it does not need any further legislation?