David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Doherty on the work he has done in this area over a long period of time. These are not new issues. The issue of dual pricing and price gouging has been with us for a long time. These are very unfair and, in fact, toxic practices that have been carried out by greedy insurance companies for a long time. Deputy Doherty and others have shone a spotlight on this issue for months and years but the reality is that the Minister of State's Government has done nothing. Customers are being ripped off every single day. Car insurance customers, home insurance customers and small businesses are being ripped off. In fact, a number of such businesses had to take insurance companies to court because the Government failed in its duty to protect them and to protect citizens. People tell me all the time that they are being ripped off and ask me why the Government does nothing. It is because the political will is not there and because the Government is protecting and shielding the greedy insurance companies. People increasingly tell me that unless and until we have a Minister for Finance like Deputy Doherty, we will not see change on these issues.

The reality is that this can be resolved with political will. Over recent weeks and months, the Tánaiste has posted a number of videos on social media in which he beats his chest and says that he will take on the insurance industry and deal with some of these issues. Where is he today? Where is the Government today? Where are Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil today when they are putting a stay on this Bill, which could actually deal with these issues here and now? They want to kick the can down the road again. People will see that and they will see why. It is because the Government does not want to challenge the greedy insurance companies.

Any number of people are being ripped off every day. The Minister of State knows this because evidence has been presented time and again by an Teachta Doherty, by the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, and by many consumer organisations. These people feel badly let down by Government parties that are simply not prepared to put the interests of ordinary consumers, customers and citizens first and are taking a back seat and allowing those people and small businesses to take court cases and to lead the charge, along with people like an Teachta Doherty, while the Government sits back and does nothing. It is unacceptable. The Minister of State should support and back this Bill.

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