Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, an Teachta Doherty, not only for this Bill but for the tireless work he has put in on this issue over recent years. I note that, in the Minister's contribution, he said that he has some concerns. It is very regrettable that the concerns he outlined were only for insurance companies and providers. Anyone watching this debate would prefer it if he had expressed even a small concern for customers. That is what the Opposition has been speaking about today - the customers of insurance companies who are effectively being gouged. They are not lazy; they have constraints on their time. They may lack the capacity to do the shopping around the Minister says is so important. They may not have access to the Internet. They might find it very frustrating to spend an hour or more on the phone or they may simply believe that the insurance companies should be regulated to the point that the practice of dual pricing would simply not be allowed. When the Minister came in, his concern was unfortunately only for the insurance companies. They actually seem to be doing quite well. It is the consumers at the business end of this issue who are being effectively ripped off. We need to end the insurance rip-off.

As I have said, in my own constituency in the north of County Dublin there are many areas that are not well served by public transport. Young people and people with young families have no choice but to have a car if they are to get around. The infrastructure to live their daily lives is simply lacking. They are extremely busy. They are not lazy or stupid; they just do not have the time to compare prices, shop around and so on. They need this regulation so that they will not be at the mercy of the insurance companies about which the Minister is so very concerned. They want fairness. They want to know that when they take out an insurance policy, it will be fair and they will get a good price without having to spend hours and hours trying to outwit the algorithms used by the insurance companies. They want to know that they will get a fair price. That is what an Teachta Doherty has sought to do here today and that is what everyone has spoken about - fairness for consumers. It is very regrettable that, when the Minister spoke, he spoke only about fairness for big multinationals and big insurance companies.

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