Vol. 534 No. 5
31 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the equality section of his Department plans any role in regard to ensuring that customers of insurance companies are not discriminated against on grounds of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11006/01]
Direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of age, in relation to the supply of goods and the provision of services generally available to the public, is prohibited by the Equal Status Act, 2000. Under the Act, the age ground is defined as being applicable to a person who is over the age of 18 years, but there is no upper age threshold. The term service includes facilities for banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit or financing. As the Deputy may be aware, the Equal Status Act, 2000, is in full operation since October 2000. Section 5(2)(f2>d) of the Act provides, in essence, that an insurance company which provides different treatment in relation to annuities, pensions, insurance policies or any other matter relating to the assessment of risk, which is effected by reference to reasonable actuarial or statistical data, will not be discriminating. The Act thus provides protection for individuals seeking insurance because a company will have to justify any different treatment by demonstrating that it is based on reasonably reliable data.
The Equality Division of my Department does not have a role as such in relation to the matter mentioned in the Deputy's Question. Under the equality legislation, there are two independent bodies with statutory roles, the Equality Authority and the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations. The Equality Authority, which has the role of working towards the elimination of discrimination, provides information and advice to any person who feels that he or she has been discriminated against on grounds of age and, or, on one of the other grounds in the equality legislation, whether in an employment area or not. Where a complaint of discrimination is made, the Director of Equality Investigations has the power under the Act to investigate and decide such a case. In the course of so doing, it will be open to the director to examine and make a finding as regards the reasonableness or otherwise of an insurance company's reliance, under section 5(2) (f2>d), on the data on which the different treatment of that particular customer has been based.
