Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking on the same issue, the same difficulties and the same problems as previous speakers. I refer to the collapse of insurance companies. People believe they have insurance cover for a year and then a company collapses, as happened with Setanta Insurance, and they have to seek to be reinsured. Many have still not received compensation following the collapse of Setanta four years ago. We should remember in this debate that many people are on low income. When a person pays €700, €800, €900 or maybe €1,000 - or even €500 or €600 in the case of someone on low income, a blow such as the collapse of an insurance company creates more problems. Sometimes people shop around and believe they are getting a good deal. If the company collapses, however, they find they have to go to their credit union and refinance their insurance policy. This issue must be tackled quickly.

I welcome this Bill but this has been a long process for such an urgent issue. People simply cannot wait. It will probably be a long time before this legislation is passed because the Dáil will wrap up for the summer on Thursday. I presume the Bill will be before the House again early in the autumn and we will try to deal with it as quickly as we can. In the meantime, many people are frustrated, annoyed and coming into our clinics. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of that.

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