Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On one occasion on which I raised this issue the Tánaiste said my contribution was "quite a diatribe". Perhaps he will be more considered in his response today given that since that time, the Central Bank's investigation, which was prompted by my dossier, found that what I said was true and that dual pricing is being used by the majority of insurance companies. This is a practice that rips off consumers. The Central Bank is so concerned at what it has seen that it has called for immediate action. The courts have found that business interruption cover, which is an issue I have raised with the Tánaiste time and time again, should support the consumer against the insurance industry.

As late as today, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has, in its preliminary findings, found against the insurance industry for what I would describe as cartel-like activity. The commission says there are reasonable grounds now to believe that the industry or a number of companies have broken the law for price signalling. With that in mind I ask the question. The Tánaiste has talked about conspiracy theories. The Minister for Finance put on the record of the Dáil that he has delayed significant parts of the implementation of my legislation for a further year because the insurance industry sat down with him and said they wanted it delayed. Given everything that I have said, given that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has found against the industry, given that the Central Bank is so alarmed that it has called for immediate action and given that the FCA is finding in favour of consumers, will the Government for once stand up for the ordinary people against the industry and implement in full the legislation that was endorsed by Fine Gael and every party in the House? My legislation balances the scales in favour of consumers against an industry.

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