Results 501-520 of 1,047,716 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Patrick Nulty OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Pearse Doherty)

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I hear what the Minister of State is saying but we are asked to deal with the laws. Section 10(2)(a) provides "that it shall, as soon as is practicable after it receives such reimbursement, transmit in full amount such reimbursement to the Bank", which is the Central Bank in this case. It goes on to say that the bank will then pay back a portion of that. I hope it works a lot more smoothly...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Why is the Central Bank the body to divvy it out? Why does the MIBI not just keep the portion that it is entitled to? It could put it into the fund that it administers and transfer anything to the Central Bank in relation to the fund that it administers, which is the insurance compensation fund.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I am snowed under by my notes. I have no problem with the amendments but would like to question the Minister of State on them when I make sense of the notes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: In my Second Stage contribution on the Bill, I said that section 16 allows for the State Claims Agency to carry out an annual audit of a sample of the claims payments made through the compensation body. When an audit has taken place, it will be presented to the Minister for Finance. Is the Minister obliged to publish it or lay it before the Oireachtas?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Surely any commercially sensitive information can be dealt with before publication.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I am aware that an audit will refer to claims, because that is what has to be done, but will an audit not provide a view on the claims, this view being what would be published? The Minister is not going to get a report stating Johnny was paid a certain amount because of this, that and the other; I presume the Minister will get a report stating the agency audited 25 claims and found X, Y and Z.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: It is something we will revisit. My view is that transparency is of the utmost importance. I understand the argument on commercial sensitivity but we have not yet seen how the reports will be structured. I would like to know if there is a way to present such a report to the Oireachtas under section 16 that does not breach commercial sensitivity or other requirements concerning personal...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Excuse my ignorance on this point, but does this body fall under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Therefore, is it correct that the Comptroller and Auditor General will be auditing it annually?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: A possible audit. Will it be possible to examine the issues concerning the claims? This section is really important and I support it because it requires not just a periodic examination but also an annual review by the State Claims Agency. There may not be many claims and one would hope that the annual review of the State Claims Agency will state everything is above board, great and all the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Did the Minister of State refer to the deposit return scheme?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I understand. I was not aware of that and I thank the Minister of State for bringing it to my attention. We are talking here about returning a can of Coke and hundreds of millions-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: This is a cost being placed on the Irish Exchequer and on taxpayers across the State. It accumulates to hundreds of millions of euro. I do not understand why a report that does not contain commercially sensitive or personal data cannot be published. That is my basic question. We talk about full disclosure and all the rest. Why not publish the report?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: We may have to consider this issue on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: That may cause a problem for the schedule because we will have to table amendments. I was hoping for an undertaking. I hear what the Minister of State is saying about commercial sensitivity. In scenarios such as this, a Minister of State would sometimes say that a report can be published without compromising commercial sensitivity. If the State Claims Agency presents a report to the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: It is not.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister of State. Amendment No. 2 is technical. A section is to be deleted and from what I understand, amendment No. 3 replaces or does the job of the deleted section. We are deleting a section relating to the treatment of the compensation body as a creditor during the winding up of a company and have replaced that section through amendment No. 3. Will the Minister of State...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister of State.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: This section follows on with regard to the State Claims Agency. Will the Minister of State clarify the time limits that could be placed on the State Claims Agency when auditing claims that have not yet been completed and how these will interact with the timeframes required to assess and provide compensation? Will he also clarify the factors that will be taken into account to determine the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Can I ask-----