Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I am pleased to present to the House the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2012, which will give effect in Ireland to the mandatory introduction within the EU of unisex premiums and benefits in private insurance to which Council Directive 2004/113/EC applies. This directive, informally known as the gender goods and services directive, implements the principle of equal treatment between men and women in access to and supply of goods and services. In its decision of 1 March 2011, in a case taken by a Belgian consumer rights organisation, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that Article 5(2) of the directive would be invalid with effect from 21 December 2012. This decision, known as the Test-Achats ruling, is binding on all member states of the EU. The provision that was struck down had allowed an exception from the principle of equal treatment enunciated in the regulation so that insurance companies could price life and motor insurance products differently for men and women, where this difference is reasonable and supported by actuarial or statistical data. Ireland availed of this exemption in the Equal Status Act 2000, permitting gender differentiation to continue in the areas of motor insurance, life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection cover and private annuities and pensions.

The effect of the ruling is that Ireland is obliged to prohibit, by law, the selling of private insurance products which differentiate, by gender, on price or benefits and to have such provisions in force on or before 21 December 2012. The unisex rule will apply to all contracts concluded for the first time as and from that date. It also applies to agreements between parties as and from 21 December 2012 to extend contracts concluded before that date, which would otherwise have expired. The European Commission has issued guidance on the application of this judgment on national legislation transposing Council Directive 2004/113/EC and on insurance industry practices.

I have taken due regard to this guidance - and to the intention stated in the directive to avoid a sudden readjustment of the insurance market - in determining the amendments to the Equal Status Acts necessary to ensure compliance with the ruling. As I will explain, these amendments are largely technical in nature. For me and my colleagues in government, this ruling highlights the crucial importance of achieving legal clarity in the drafting of legislation at European level to ensure that such instruments are interpreted and have the impact intended. The Government is conscious of the potential for confusion and misinformation among consumers and insurance providers alike of these changes to the private insurance market. For this reason, in October the Department of Justice and Equality published an information note for consumers on the new rules on the permitted use of gender by insurance providers and sources of further information and advice. The information note is widely available through public information channels such as the Citizens Information Board. It is also available on the Department's website. I wish to again express our thanks to the industry bodies - the Irish Insurance Federation, the Irish Brokers Association, the Professional Insurance Brokers Association and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland - which, along with the Departments of Finance, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Social Protection, the Central Bank, the National Consumer Agency, the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Board, the Equality Authority and the Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau, contributed to the preparation of this advice for consumers.

In some quarters, the potential for this change to lead to increases in the premiums charged, not least in motor insurance and life assurance, has given rise to concern. The Government takes seriously concerns expressed about the risk that some providers might seek to exploit the change to maximise their profits to the detriment of consumers. It was made very clear to the industry - in consultations on the Bill - that the State's consumer protection and insurance regulatory bodies do not view such developments favourably. The Central Bank, the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority each has specific statutory roles in promoting and protecting consumer interests, which will be engaged as needed. This is in addition to the investigative and advisory powers of the Equality Authority in respect of discriminatory practices by insurance providers and the existing individual complaints mechanism under the Equal Status Acts, which will continue to apply.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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As it is now 1.30 p.m., I am required to put the following question in accordance with an order of the Seanad of this day: "That each of the sections undisposed of is hereby agreed to, that the Title is hereby agreed to, that Report Stage is hereby completed and that the Bill is hereby passed."