Results 7,701-7,720 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: To cut to the core of that, it is not about transparency or communication. If a person is a customer of Permanent TSB and wants to be on a fixed rate, he or she is paying a higher fixed rate than a new customer of that bank. It is not about transparency. The person is paying more and has no option but to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I hear all of that. However, I am making the point that differential pricing in our banking system is happening under the nose of the Central Bank. The bank to which I refer advertises a discounted managed variable rate for a period for new customers which is not available to existing customers. Existing customers can only move once to a managed variable rate, they cannot update the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: We are on the matter of differential pricing, which, in effect, boils down in many cases to a new customer getting a better deal than is being offered to an existing customer who is keeping his or her business with that bank or insurance company. That is happening right now in parts of our banking system, although not all parts, and I do not want to tar all of the banks with one brush in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: Including some sectors regulated by the Central Bank.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: To come back to insurance, there is one critical question. If the insurance company believes a customer is not going to move his or her business or switch, is it acceptable for the insurance company to charge that customer more than it otherwise would because of that fact? It really comes to down to that net question of whether, from a consumer protection point of view and looking at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I hear all of that. The Central Bank is the guardian of the consumer protection code and that requires the firms to act honestly and fairly in the best interests of both their customers and the integrity of the market.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: If a firm knowingly charges a customer more because it believes, based on recent experience with that customer, that he or she is not going to move, and will probably not even shop around or price an alternative supplier, and it charges more as a consequence, is that really acting fairly and in the interests of the customer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: How long has the practice of differential pricing been going on within insurance in Ireland, to Ms Rowland's knowledge?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: Therefore, it has been happening for decades around the world and in Ireland, and the regulator would have a general awareness that this has been the case over that period, presumably. Mr. Cullinan is saying it is almost an accepted norm across the industry and not just in Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I want to raise a couple of other issues relating to insurance. The CCPC and the competition directorate of the European Commission are conducting probes into alleged anti-competitive practices in the insurance industry. Does the Central Bank have a role in those? Does it provide information or assistance to the European Commission or the CCPC?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I will ask a couple of quick questions. Where do we stand with the national claims information database?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: What will we see in the database in its published form before the year's end?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: To put it another way, what use or benefit will the database be to bringing more openness and transparency to the industry and claims environment? Will it provide information on awards through the various settlement channels, for example, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, out-of-court settlements and court awards? We need a proper handle on the data so that we can draw lessons from them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: The Central Bank is not working on a fraud database.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: Ms Rowland referred to the 2018 thematic review of the pricing and underwriting information supplied to the boards of 12 firms. Two thirds of the sample required improvement. What types of issues requiring improvement arose in that review?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: In the mortgage market, the Central Bank has acknowledged that there is differential pricing. It should continue its work in that regard. Most banks are not engaging in it with the exception of the upfront cashback offer, which we have discussed previously. In terms of actual rates, though, there are still examples of clear differential pricing. In the interests of consumers, it should be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: There is also a statutory code that has to be upheld.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I do not doubt that, but the Central Bank should consider the examples I have given through the prism of the requirements under the consumer protection code.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion (12 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: I thank Ms Rowland.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland (7 Nov 2019)

Michael McGrath: 50. To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding the printing of euro banknotes here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45844/19]