Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The Department identified a potential drafting ambiguity in the text of the Bill as initiated insofar as section 27 could potentially be interpreted as making the rights of the compensation body set out in section 27(c) of the Bill unavailable because of where the amendments to the 1964 Act are positioned in the text. Accordingly, this could hinder the ability of the compensation body to recoup moneys it had paid as compensation to policyholders from insolvent insurers and section 27 of the Bill should, therefore, be amended to place paragraphs (c) and (d), as set out in section 27(c), in a stand-alone section that is not subject to section 3 of the 1964 Act. This drafting amendment will better reflect the intended position for the compensation body, address any unintended ambiguity in the current draft and avoid any legal uncertainty.