Right to be forgotten
Deputy Guirke praised cross-party support for legislation to protect cancer survivors seeking financial services from having to declare a past diagnosis after five years. The Minister rejected the suggestion that the Government was appeasing insurers and explained the amendment and legal context.
I was very proud to be part of a cross-party group that supported the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2022 to legislate for the right to be forgotten. It was supported by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Social Democrats and all parties within the House. The Bill, which will seek to revive current legislation, outlines that a person seeking access to financial services will no longer have to declare a cancer diagnosis five years after finishing active treatment. Ms Rachel Morrogh from the Irish Cancer Society said that:
No cancer patient should be financially penalised for having survived cancer. Imagine being a survivor of a childhood cancer and years later being denied what many consider to be rites of passage to adulthood such as getting a mortgage, getting life insurance and even travelling abroad.
This Bill is on Second Stage in the Seanad and it looks like the Government was going to kick it down the road. The only reason for that can be to appease the insurance companies. If we cannot even push a Bill like this through, what hope have we of getting anything done?
Comment on this
I entirely reject the premise of the Deputy's question that we are doing something that is about trying to appease the insurance sector. That is completely wrong. We brought forward a timed amendment to the Bill and we explained why in the Seanad. The first reason was because from the engagement my Department had with those who are involved in this area, in many cases, the presumption of full recovery from cancer means that person, or anybody who has suffered from the condition of cancer, is entitled to the same health evaluation as others are. Second, as was made clear in the Seanad, the European Union is considering some legislative change in this area that will bring certainty and clarity to how this matter is being dealt with. What is not motivating the Government is any intention to appease the insurance sector in any way. I can assure the Deputy of that. What we are looking to do here is treat a sensitive issue fairly and appropriately, and that is what we will do.