I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, to the House. My Commencement matter is on the need for the Minister for Finance to specify what plans are in place to support our citizens returning to Ireland to live and work, specifically in relation to mortgage approval, car insurance, health insurance and all the other issues they face. It is genuinely great news for Ireland, and for families and communities across the country, that emigrants are returning home to live and work. Over 61,500 people have returned to Ireland over the last two years. That tells a powerful story. It shows that Ireland is flying and we have full employment, opportunity and confidence in our future. It also reflects something deeper - people want to come home. They want to raise families here, contribute to their communities and put their skills and experience back into the Irish economy. We do need them.

Returning emigrants are filling vital roles across everyday working life in Ireland, and more are coming even this week, in healthcare, construction, education, hospitality, trades, agriculture and our small businesses. They bring international experience, a strong work ethic and huge value to local economies, especially in rural Ireland. This should be a national success story but, too often, people who do everything right are hitting unnecessary and frustrating blockages when they come home. The biggest issue is housing. Returning emigrants struggle to get immediate mortgage approval, even when they have strong incomes, solid savings and long work histories. Banks are slow to recognise overseas employment and probation periods. They delay decisions and people who have worked abroad for years are treated as if they are starting from scratch. At the same time, the rental market is creating new barriers. People are being asked for references from Irish landlords, even when they have lived abroad for decades. That makes no sense. If people rented in another country or owned their home abroad, that experience should count.

Another major issue is car insurance, which is absolutely essential, especially where I come from in rural Ireland. People are returning with years and sometimes decades of safe driving experience only to be told that their no-claims bonus has expired. Insurance companies then charge inflated premiums, effectively penalising people for having worked abroad. This is not just unfair. It feels like people are being ripped off for coming home. One person was charged up to €4,000 to take out car insurance, so they could claim back their no-claims bonus over a two-year term. It would then reduce, but a charge of €4,000 is just not on. There is also the issue of health insurance. Some returning emigrants are being told that they face waiting periods of up to five years for pre-existing conditions or 12 months before cover even begins. That creates anxiety for families and undermines the sense that Ireland is welcoming its own people home.

None of these problems are unsolvable. They are not about lack of goodwill but systems that have not kept pace with our reality. If we are serious about encouraging more people to return, mortgage providers, insurers and policymakers must work together to recognise overseas work, overseas driving and insurance histories, reduce unnecessary delays and remove barriers that simply do not need to exist. It is a great news story that people are coming home but let us make it worth their while. Let us make Ireland not just a place people want to return to but a place that actively welcomes them back, supports them and values what they bring home. If we get this right, everyone benefits; families, communities, employers and the country as a whole.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. The Government is committed to supporting Irish people when they return from abroad to work. In relation to the specific issues raised by the Senator about access to mortgage and insurance products, it is important that fair and reasonable access to financial services and products is available for all. However, there are also important consumer protection and prudential requirements associated with the provision of such financial products to consumers. These measures are in place to protect both consumers and the financial system. It is important they are applied in a manner that is fair and consistent for all consumers.

In relation to mortgages, the Central Bank of Ireland has put in place macroprudential measures for residential mortgage lending. These measures apply proportionate loan-to-value and loan-to-income limits for mortgage lending by regulated financial service providers. The key objective of these measures is to increase the resilience of the banking and household sectors to the property market and to reduce the risk of credit issues developing in the future. Mortgage lenders are also subject to requirements to ensure customers have the capacity to repay credit advanced to them. From an affordability perspective, before providing a mortgage, lenders are required to undertake a creditworthiness assessment to ensure a borrower will be able to repay the mortgage. This assessment takes into account the individual circumstances of the borrower.

In addition, the Central Bank of Ireland’s consumer protection code requires lenders to assess affordability of credit and the suitability of a product or service based on the individual circumstances of each borrower. The code specifies that the affordability assessment must include consideration of the information gathered on the borrower’s personal circumstances and financial situation. Given that mortgage lending constitutes a very large part of the overall credit and banking system, it is important that these consumer protection and macroprudential measures are applied in a fair and comparable way across the system. It is important to note that mortgage and car insurance providers determine their commercial underwriting criteria for accepting applications. How risk factors are applied to insurance policies is a matter for each insurer. Neither the Government nor the Central Bank of Ireland has any role in these matters.

Insurance Ireland, the industry body for insurers in Ireland, has confirmed that its members will take overseas driving experience into account as long as the driver can provide proof of claims-free driving experience abroad. I understand that motor insurers will take a no-claims history into account from the EEA, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, South Africa and the USA. Regarding health insurance, the rules governing open enrolment, community rating, lifetime cover and waiting periods are set down and overseen by the Health Insurance Authority under the health insurance Acts. The Health Insurance Authority also administers provisions relating to those who have lived abroad, such as credits that can reduce lifetime community rating loadings upon return. I hope this information is of use to the Senator.

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. On paper, it sounds good. There are checks and balances in every business, especially among banks and insurance providers, relating to the history of people who are returning. Like anything, it is a paper trail. It is about looking deep into a person's history, whether they have been away for five or ten years, or six months. It is not working with these institutions. Applicants are providing a lot of payslips and so on but some people cannot go back five years or whatever to get mortgage approval. They are moving back to rural Ireland, to County Kerry or wherever, and they cannot put a bid on a house because they cannot get mortgage approval. They can show some history of work and credit from the country they were in and they paid taxes in that country as well. They are finding it extremely hard. They wait and they are pushed out, missing the opportunity to buy the house they want in the area they want to work and live in. I welcome the point about car insurers but a lot of them not accepting emigrants as well and they are paying extreme volumes of money for car insurance. I ask the Minister of State to keep on top of this and make sure easy access is available to these people to meet these requirements when they return home.

The Senator has made a very strong point on behalf of returning emigrants . It is a sign of a good, successful economy that people want to return home. However, with that, some problems arise. There are regulatory frameworks governing the provision of mortgages and car insurance for consumers, which are designed to protect consumers and overall financial stability. Within that overall framework, it is a business decision for mortgage and insurance providers to decide whether to provide a mortgage, loan or car insurance. In considering an application, regulated entities must act in a fair and reasonable manner and seek to serve the best interests of the individual consumer. I will take on board what the Senator said today, and I make a commitment that I will engage with Brokers Ireland, Insurance Ireland and representatives of the banking bodies to make sure that they are dealing with returning emigrants in a fair, proportionate and transparent manner.

If a consumer is not satisfied with how a regulated firm is dealing with them in relation to a mortgage or car insurance, they can make a complaint directly to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. Nobody wants to go down that route. The Senator has made a valid point. Someone who has worked abroad, accumulated savings and had a good track record should be able to transfer that to Ireland. I will raise that point directly on foot of the Senator’s representations with the representative bodies for the bank, Brokers Ireland and Insurance Ireland.

We have a very busy Chamber. Before our next speaker, I welcome students from, Scoil Mhuire, Navan, County Meath. They are all guests of our wonderful County Meath TD, Aisling Dempsey. They are very welcome to the Chamber. I hope they enjoy their visit here.

As I said to the previous visitors, it is customary if a school visits the Seanad that there is no homework for the rest of the day. I always like to extend it for the rest of the week, but I will leave that to the discretion of the students' teacher who is with them. I hope they enjoy the rest of their day here.