Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to discuss the issue of dual pricing. It is important that we acknowledge the work of our parliamentary colleague, Deputy Doherty, in respect of this issue. Had it not been for his foresight, I would not be here talking about it today and we would not be dealing with this as an issue.

We hear terms such as "price walking", "price signalling", "dual pricing" and "differential pricing" but it all amounts to the same thing, namely, how much more money can be squeezed and screwed out of the consumer. It permeates the insurance industry and it is self-evident. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, is acknowledging it and the Central Bank is latently acknowledging it.

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Fleming, and I ask him what the Government's response to this will be, given that there is a programme for Government commitment on it. If the programme for Government is saying we need to ensure there is a level playing field for consumers on the price of car insurance, for instance, what is the solution and what solution is the Government offering? The Labour Party is of a mind to support the Sinn Féin Bill that is before the House because that is a solution to this issue.

The Central Bank's response to the issue of dual pricing does not leave one inspired and I refer to an article in The Irish Timeson 9 September, which references a senior official in the Central Bank. When this official was questioned about this issue, she advocated for a: "measured and proportional approach, based on actual tangible evidence". We have the tangible evidence. That has been self-evident since 2015 and 2016. The dogs in the street know about this. The official went on to state that the Central Bank was keen to avoid unintended consequences from any new regulations such as the stifling of competition, saying: "If you ban the practice, it might result in some industry firms exiting the market, reducing competition and choice for consumers". My analysis of that response by the Central Bank to this important issue is one that reminds me of how the Central Bank regulated the banks in the worst days prior to the recession. It seems to me to be signalling that there is almost a hands-off, conservative or light-touch approach to this issue and that does not augur well. We want the Central Bank, the Government and this Parliament to finally deal with this issue to ensure there is fairness on how people consume products within the insurance industry. We want to ensure that cartel-like behaviour is done away with once and for all and that Ireland follows the model of the UK on the issue of dual pricing.

The Minister of State before us has a stout record as an advocate for the consumer. I am hopeful that the Government will take this issue extremely seriously and that the Central Bank will not be conservative in its approach to this issue because everybody is watching it right now to see what way it will move on this issue. We have already had a signal from the CCPC on 17 September on anti-competitive co-operation or in other words, cartel-like behaviour and the consumer is demanding a response. We have crossed a Rubicon and we need an adequate response.

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