Insurance (Disregard of Certain Medical History and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24 ============================================================ Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. This is very significant legislation. In his introduction, the Minister of State rightly acknowledged the very significant contribution of the former Senator, now Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and her unwavering commitment, support and determination to see this get into the programme for Government and across the line. I acknowledge her dedication and immense advocacy to see this legislation through. It shows what can be achieved with determination, although of course it also helps when you are in government, to get the hearing. It deserves a proper hearing and full support. The Minister of State also recognised extensive engagement with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, the insurance sector generally, the Irish Society of Medical Oncology, a significant group of professionals, the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society. That is important too. It has broad support but all of these particular groupings and professionals bring expertise, which is reassuring to have in any legislation we are going through. I acknowledge that. In particular, I acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and the present Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who has had his own personal experiences and is rightly determined to see this through. I thank the Government for pursuing this significant legislation. The Bill seeks to introduce provisions prohibiting financial service providers from discriminating against cancer survivors in the provision of financial services. Central, too, to this legislation is that it enshrines the right to be forgotten for cancer survivors, thereby ensuring they are not unjustly penalised due to their medical history once they have reached a certain post-treatment milestone. Cancer survivorship in Ireland has significantly improved over the last number of decades. That is to be encouraged. The prospects are getting better and better in terms of care for people with cancer. Advancements in medical treatments and the restructuring of cancer care have resulted in increased survival rates. The Bill introduces a new section 69 which prohibits financial service providers from engaging in discriminatory practices based on cancer diagnosis. The Bill also identifies the survivor of cancer based on age at diagnosis and a five-year period without treatment. That is also significant and worthy of acknowledgement. This Bill is similar to provisions that have been enacted in other jurisdictions, and I looked at France, Belgium and the Netherlands today. We have a very successful model working there. I have no doubt that the departmental officials looked at best practice in other jurisdictions. It has worked and been very positive. The feedback from France, Belgium and Netherlands is significant. It is always good to see a similar operation functioning in other jurisdictions, particularly within the Union. It is important that people are not locked out of the system due to circumstances that are beyond their control. We always have to be mindful of unintended consequences of any legislation. I was most taken by the Law Society's summary of this Bill. It was worth reading that important contribution. The society tends to be very analytical in its assessments and it keeps them very simple. That is always a good thing. The key amendments to this Bill will be the reduction of the remission period from seven years to five years, regardless of age or diagnosis, which is in line with international medical standards for the end of cancer surveillance, and to apply a statutory disregard of certain cancer-related histories in mortgage protection insurance cover up to €650,000. This is an increase from €500,000 to reflect the current housing market. All normal underwriting above the threshold ensures, the Department says, that the measure remains proportionate, sustainable and compliant with EU insurance law and the industry's governance and practices. Provision for a review of the threshold is provided for in this legislation every five years. I support this very important legislation. I support and commend the Minister of State on driving this legislation through. At the end of the day, this Bill is, of course, about fairness and dignity. The Minister of State will have my full support and, no doubt, the full support of the Independent Members in Seanad Éireann. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-24