Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Murphy, and Deputy Collins for their contributions to the debate and for their support for the legislation. I imagine the others who did not use their slots are fully satisfied with the legislation and took the view that they had no need to make comments in the Dáil. We will take their absence as consent.

Indeed, that is what the legislation does. If people do not answer the question, then the insurer waives the right to hold that against a customer in a court of law in terms of voiding the contract. We can take the fact that others have not said anything as agreement with the legislation.

I wish to remark on comments by the Minister of State, Deputy Murphy. His comments are sensible and right. We are under no illusions: this legislation is the culmination of a large number of years of work by the Law Reform Commission. In 2011 the commission produced the first report. In 2015 the report which is the basis for this legislation was produced. We have engaged with the Law Reform Commission in respect of the changes to subsequent legislation since the publication of the Act. We have accommodated the changes into the Bill as presented.

There needed to be detailed scrutiny of this legislation. This is not legislation that will affect only one sector or a group of individuals. This will affect every person in the State, if not now, then at some point in future. It will have an effect when people renew motor policies or house insurance or life insurance. This legislation will have a serious impact on those events. The legislation states that, upon renewal, customers will no longer be required to furnish information to the insurer unless the insurer asks specifically for information. Moreover, that has to be done in plain and simple language. It has wide-reaching effects.

It balances the scales in terms of the consumer. There is no doubt about it. However, it is not something the insurance industry should be overly fearful about. We have cited cases in terms of the burglar alarm. The Minister of State referred to a similar case in which a customer is warranted. A customer does not see the term “warranted” on the insurance contract, but it is under the terms and conditions. People must maintain a type of burglar alarm. If the alarm is not maintained and the house floods, then the customer cannot claim. Worse, if the burglar alarm was broken for six months, then was repaired and was working again and six months later the house burned down, the insurance company could still void the claim. To be fair to the insurance industry, under its code of practice it says that is not acceptable and that only if it was a reason for the risk relating to the claim in the first place should it be acceptable. Only in the case of theft would a company decide not to pay out because of the burglar alarm not working. However, that has not always been the case. I referred earlier to a quote from Buckley. One large insurance went to court in contravention of the industry's own codes. That is why there is a requirement on us as legislators to ensure that practices widely accepted in the insurance industry as unfair are no longer allowed to be part of codes and dependent on the goodwill of insurers but are provided for in law. That is the intention of the Bill.

Consultation will need to take place with the Central Bank, the Financial Services Ombudsman, the insurance industry and advocates for consumers. This is wide-ranging and affects millions of people across the State. It is long overdue.

I note what the Minister of State has said in terms of the scheduling of the Bill. I will keep that in mind as we deal with this in the committee. My intention is to work with other parties, including the Minister of State and his officials who have a depth of knowledge, while conscious of the other work the Minister is bringing forward, particularly in respect of motor insurance. I suggested that we could consider amendments to one of the sections which could enable this Bill to be a vehicle to deal with some of the implementation of the measures the Minster of State intends to bring forward.

I thank the Members for their support for this legislation. When enacted it will be a major step forward in terms of consumer rights.

I commend all those who have worked on the legislation in the Law Reform Commission over a substantial period. They carried out the consultation and looked at the practices internationally and produced the first report. They developed the second report and the legislation. I thank my own staff, including Declan O’Farrell, who helped me to bring the Bill to this point.

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