Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was very proud to be part of a cross-party group that supported the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2022 to legislate for the right to be forgotten. It was supported by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Social Democrats and all parties within the House. The Bill, which will seek to revive current legislation, outlines that a person seeking access to financial services will no longer have to declare a cancer diagnosis five years after finishing active treatment. Ms Rachel Morrogh from the Irish Cancer Society said that:

No cancer patient should be financially penalised for having survived cancer. Imagine being a survivor of a childhood cancer and years later being denied what many consider to be rites of passage to adulthood such as getting a mortgage, getting life insurance and even travelling abroad.

This Bill is on Second Stage in the Seanad and it looks like the Government was going to kick it down the road. The only reason for that can be to appease the insurance companies. If we cannot even push a Bill like this through, what hope have we of getting anything done?

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