I thank the Minister for introducing this legislation. I welcome the opportunity to speak on what will be called the Insurance (Disregard of Certain Medical History and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which many people across Ireland know simply as the "right to be forgotten" legislation. Tonight is a very important night for cancer survivors and their families. This legislation is about fairness, dignity and recognising that somebody who has survived cancer, completed treatment and rebuilt his or her life should not continue to face financial discrimination years later when trying to buy a home and protect his or her family. For too long, cancer survivors faced what many described as a second battle after their treatment has ended. They have already gone through surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, uncertainty and fear. They have fought the hardest battle of their lives yet years later, when they apply for mortgage protection insurance, many are still being treated differently because of their historic cancer diagnosis. It is simply not fair. A cancer diagnosis should not be a lifelong sentence and this legislation remedies that. I am very proud to say that I first introduced this legislation in the Seanad in 2022 alongside the then Senators, Deputy Jerry Buttimer and Paul Gavan of Sinn Féin, with broad cross-party support through the Oireachtas cross-party group on cancer. Later in the Dáil, Deputy Erin McGreehan and I introduced the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill during one of the first terms of this Dáil. That is the basis of the legislation that is before us this evening. I want to say very clearly that this Bill does not belong to one individual or one political party; it belongs to a community. There is an old saying that it takes a village. In this case it took a community of survivors, advocates, doctors, lawyers, insurers, civil servants and politicians like the Minister of State to bring this legislation to where it is tonight. Every single person involved played a role in getting it here and many people spent countless hours over several years advocating for this legislation because they genuinely believed cancer survivors deserved better. I want to acknowledge Professor Mark Lawler and Ciarán Briscoe for their work at the All-Island Cancer Research Institute. I want to acknowledge Adrian O'Higgins BL, who drafted the original legislation and gave enormously of his time and expertise in this process. I particularly want to acknowledge Rachel Morrogh, CEO of the Rape Crisis Centre, who at the time was head of advocacy and public affairs with the Irish Cancer Society and was one of the driving forces behind this legislation. I also want to acknowledge Steve Dempsey, Nikki Gallagher and former CEO Averil Power, together with the wider Irish Cancer Society team, for their continued engagement and leadership throughout this process. Research from the Irish Cancer Society showed that almost a one quarter of people affected by cancer had difficulty even getting financial quotes after their cancer diagnosis. That research really mattered. It helped expose the scale of the problem and helped drive political momentum behind this legislation. I also want to thank Commissioner Michael McGrath, the former Minister for Finance, who was supportive in the early years in constructive engagement very early on with the insurance industry. I want to thank Michael J. McGrath in the Department of Finance, the civil servant who worked extensively on this legislation. I also want to thank Paschal Donohoe, Simon Harris and all the officials in the Department of Finance who worked carefully and diligently on this legislation over a long period of time. I particularly want to thank the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy. Sometimes in politics people begin ideas and sustain ideas, and sometimes you need somebody to bring legislation decisively over the line. To use a sporting analogy, you need somebody to put the ball in the back of the net. The Minister of State played that role impeccably and I thank him. He engaged seriously with stakeholders, insurers, patient advocates and officials, and he has worked tirelessly and constructively to ensure this legislation progressed to this stage. Hopefully we will see it at committee next week and see it progress before the term ends. I think it is also important to acknowledge the stakeholder engagement process because it genuinely improved the legislation. At the beginning, stakeholders like Insurance Ireland were understandably very concerned, especially around underwriting, sustainability and risk, but one of the key moments in this process was the review of the voluntary code introduced by Insurance Ireland in late 2023 after our initial Bill in the Seanad. That review demonstrated something very important. It showed that many of the fears surrounding the right to be forgotten were not borne out by the evidence. The independent review found that approximately 1,300 applications had been made under the voluntary code and approximately 650 people received cover amounting to €96 million in insured loans. Most important, the review found no evidence that anybody who met the code criteria had been refused cover because of their cancer diagnosis. This evidence changed the conversation. It moved the debate from fear to facts. It demonstrated that fairness for cancer survivors and a sustainable insurance market could co-exist. I think Insurance Ireland, despite negative press, deserves credit for engaging constructively with the Department and the Minister of State throughout that process. The provisions of the Bill are extremely important and we cannot take our eye off the insurance industry. They have to follow this Bill to the letter of the law. The legislation will place the right to be forgotten on a statutory footing for the first time in Ireland. That is hugely significant because voluntary arrangements do not have the same rights and legal status. Cancer survivors deserve certainty and the legislation reduces the remission period from seven years to five years. This is important because cancer outcomes and survivorship rates have improved enormously over the years, and our laws must reflect modern medicine and modern realities. The legislation also increases the mortgage protection threshold. This matters enormously given the reality of today’s housing market. The legislation also provides for a periodic review linked to CSO residential property price data and stakeholder engagement. Above the threshold, normal underwriting provisions can still apply but ultimately, this legislation is not about actuarial tables or underwriting models. It is about dignity. It is about recognising that people who survive cancer deserve the opportunity to fully move forward with their lives. As somebody who has worked extensively on cancer advocacy and healthcare issues, I have spoken to many survivors who felt deeply upset that despite being medically well and discharged from treatment, they still felt financially excluded. Many felt forgotten. Tonight, through this legislation, we are saying clearly that they are not forgotten, that we recognise their recovery, that we support their future and that surviving cancer should not prevent somebody from buying a home, raising a family or planning for the future. Politics is often criticised, but legislation like this reminds us, as others have said, what politics can achieve when people work together constructively and collaboratively. This Bill is not about ownership. It is about collective effort. It is about survivors, advocates, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, insurers and politicians all coming together in a meaningful way to improve people’s lives. I am proud to have played a small role in initiating this legislation. I am proud of everybody who stayed with it and helped shape it. Most important, I am proud that Ireland is taking this step for cancer survivors and their families. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, and I commend the Bill to the House.

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