Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
160. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Finance when the EU's 'Right to be Forgotten' clause for cancer survivors as applied consumer credit will be placed on a legislative setting in the State. [41117/23]
View answerThe Financial Consumer Protection Roadmap, which was published by my Department on 13 September, addresses this issue in the context of the consumer protection framework available in Ireland.
A revised Consumer Credit Directive is at an advanced stage in the European legislative process. It was agreed between EU co-legislators earlier this year. The legislation will cover certain credit agreements of up to €100,000. The text is being finalised and translated before it is published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The directive enters into force on the 20th day after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Ireland, like other Member States, will have 2 years to adopt necessary laws and administrative provisions and 3 years to apply them.
Article 14 of the revised directive currently states:
“Member States shall require that personal data concerning consumers’ diagnoses of oncological diseases are not used for the purpose of an insurance policy related to a credit agreement after a period of time determined by the Member States, not exceeding 15 years following the end of their medical treatment.”
This means Member States should require that the insurance policies are not based on personal data concerning consumers’ diagnosis of oncological diseases health data of consumers after a relevant period of time following the end of the consumer’s medical treatment of those consumers. Such a period of time, which will be determined by each Member State during the transposition of the Directive into national law, should not exceed a period of 15 years, starting from the end of the medical treatment of the consumer.
