Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 10, line 46 to delete "10" and substitute "3".

This section raises similar issues. Section 8 requires that all new products be submitted to the Health Insurance Authority, HIA, ten days prior to their being launched onto the market. When the Bill was initiated this was 20 days. I welcome the fact that it has been changed to ten, and clearly there has been some compromise from the Minister in this regard. I take the Minister of State's point about the context of community rating, but one could again say that this provision stifles competition within the market and the opportunity for competitors to react to market conditions.

This provision would effectively give an insurer a ten-day lead time in which to sell a product exclusively without being matched by a competitor. Is this not an impediment to a normal competitive environment? Is there any rationale or consumer-based justification for putting it in? Our concerns in this regard are similar to those about section 6, namely, that it stifles competition and prevents other insurers from reacting to a product and thereby give the consumer more choice. I recognise, however, that the time has been changed from 20 to ten days.