Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the thoughtful way in which he has dealt with this. I appreciate that this has to be across Departments and that it was not all going to come within his remit, and I appreciate the time constraints. I was going to ask why the Government did not table its own amendment but, in fairness to the Minister of State, he is after proposing that he will table such an amendment.

I welcome that. I am aware of everything the Minister of State said about the CCPC. I am glad to see that it is getting teeth because I have had concerns over the past number of years that it did not have enough teeth, particularly in respect of these areas, which I also welcome.

There is one issue in respect of what the Minister of State is drafting. I accept and understand the necessity to push forward with what he has to do in this Bill, given the requirements under European law. I also understand and accept that he will not necessarily commence the amendment he is proposing at the same time. I understand that in a situation like this there would need to be a bedding-in period in order for this to be brought out and to demonstrate how it would work with all of the different stakeholders.

I ask, considering it was the Labour Party which brought forward this amendment, that in the spirit of this, the Government would work with our party and consult my colleagues in Seanad Éireann in respect of the amendment which will be going through that Chamber. We believe that this is a very important amendment and is in the spirit of what we are doing in respect of the insurance industry.

I also accept, however, what the Minister of State is saying in that the technicalities of how one would even draft this are very particular but it can be done. We have to ensure that anybody who is receiving a renewal contract, within the same type of portfolio, across a whole range of different services, is not being discriminated against. It can be done so I encourage the Minister of State to deliver on such a matrix as part of the amendment that he will be bringing forward. On the basis of the good spirit in which the Minister of State has taken this proposal, we will withdraw this amendment. We welcome and look forward to his amendment coming through the Seanad.

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