Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018
139. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance if there are rules in place obliging life insurance providers to retain policy records for a certain number of years after the final transaction on the insurance account; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50161/18]
View answerAs Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. I have no role in day to day supervision of the insurance industry, as this is the responsibility of the Central Bank of Ireland. In that regard, the Central Bank of Ireland has two specific mandates as regards insurance supervision. Firstly, it is responsible for the prudential supervision of insurance companies it has authorised by seeking to ensure that such firms remain solvent. Secondly, the Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for the supervision of conduct of business by insurance companies operating in Ireland, also referred to as consumer protection. All regulated entities must comply with the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 (“the Code”).
I am informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that Chapter 11 of the Code contains a number of record keeping requirements for regulated entities which includes insurance undertakings and insurance intermediaries. It states that in particular, Provision 11.6 of this chapter requires regulated entities to retain records of individual transactions for six years after the date on which the particular transaction is discontinued or completed, and that a regulated entity must retain all other records for six years from the date on which the regulated entity ceased to provide any product or service to the consumer concerned.
