James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. This provision is necessary and I will explain why. God knows, we have had enough concerns about regulation in this country, so much so that, when in opposition, I did not like to even talk about having a regulator of the health insurance agency and much preferred to talk about having a scrutineer because regulation had become devalued. If we are to have serious regulation, regulators need real teeth and there have to be consequences for individuals, as well as organisations. As they say, success has many parents and failure is always an orphan. It is the same in this case. When something goes wrong and one tries to find out who is responsible, suddenly nobody knows anything about anything. We need to have a situation where the people who work for these organisations, if they are asked to delay in providing information for the HIA or give it in such a way that it will mislead the HIA, know there will be consequences. A fine is one thing for an organisation, but it is important for an individual working in it to realise there will be personal consequences for him or her also. We should, therefore, maintain this section. It is a sign of our seriousness in regulating this market and insurers that, if people try to play fast and loose, they will suffer the consequences. One of the things we said before we entered government was that we would bring transparency and accountability to this issue and that perhaps then we might have some chance of ensuring fairness. This is to underpin that accountability in order to ensure there will be fairness.

I would prefer if the Senator could see his way to withdrawing his objection. I will not be in a position to accept his amendment because this issue is critical and goes to the core of what we are about as a Government.