Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on customers seeking to move to a different insurer must pay the health insurance levy for the unexpired part of the year that this could result in individuals having to pay the levy twice as presumably the levy would also be charged for the unexpired part of the year by the new insurer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18149/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Under section 125A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 health insurance providers are required to pay a levy, in the form of a stamp duty, in respect of each insured person on their books. The levy is payable by health insurance providers in respect of each insured person for whom the provider has renewed an existing contract or with whom the provider has entered into a new contract of health insurance during an accounting period. The current accounting period runs from 1 August 2010 to 31 July 2011.

The legislation ensures that, where an individual changes insurance providers during an accounting period, only the provider with whom the individual took out or renewed the initial contract of insurance is required to pay the levy in respect of those insured under that contract for that accounting period. In such cases, where the individual concerned shows to the satisfaction of the second provider that the levy for that accounting period has been accounted for by the original provider, the second provider is not required to pay any levy for those insured under the contract for the unexpired part of the accounting period.