Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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109. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider introducing right-to-be-forgotten legislation which will ensure that after a specified period of time, those who have survived cancer either do not have to declare their diagnosis, and or can no longer be treated differently to those who have not had a cancer diagnosis when applying for some types of insurance and or loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48855/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I note that the Deputy’s question refers to the “Right to be Forgotten” in the context of cancer survivors accessing certain financial services, a sensitive issue for many in our community.

As the Deputy may be aware, this important policy matter is being considered at EU level. The European Commission’s 'Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan' includes an initiative for 2021-2023 to “Address fair access for cancer survivors to financial services (including insurance), viaa code of conduct and a reflection on long-term solutions”. Earlier this year, the Commission published an exploratory study on ‘Access to financial products for persons with a history of cancer in EU Member States’ as a first step in this process.

Following the publication of this study, the Commission has stated that by the end of 2022, it will launch further work that will gather more evidence and insights on the issue. This will serve as a basis to design a first draft of the EU Code of Conduct, which the Commission plans to discuss with stakeholders, as part of implementing 'Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan'.

It is understood that the EU Code of Conduct is planned to be adopted by early 2024. My Department will continue to monitor any outputs from this work, which represents an important contribution to this issue, and will continue to engage with Insurance Ireland and other stakeholders regarding relevant developments in this area.

Separately, it may interest the Deputy to know that, with respect to mortgage protection insurance, Section 126 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995permits lenders to provide a mortgage in situations where a borrower may be unable to obtain life insurance, or where such insurance is unduly costly compared to that payable by borrowers generally. This is important to note in the context of securing a home loan.