Derek McDowell (Labour)

I have no doubt the insurance industry was less than delighted with the Bill and I am sure departmental officials had interesting negotiations with it and that this is the compromise they reached. The underlying principle is very simple – companies are holding money that does not belong to them and whatever the amount might be, it should be transferred to the fund and available to be claimed in future. I would have thought that this principle holds as much for €10 as it does for €10,000 and €100,000.

The Minister of State's response about computerisation is difficult to buy. While I can well believe older policies are not computerised, I cannot imagine insurance or assurance companies computerise accounts purely on the basis of value. I imagine they computerise an account when someone takes out a policy. I do not think the Minister of State made up this excuse but it seems fairly lame.