Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage
Dr. Henry: I hope the Minister will accept this amendment. The most important thing Senator Quinn said was that the State will benefit if people do not see they are on one of these lists. We have to make absolutely sure it is available on the Internet because that is the means by which so many people seek information now. The Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, really made the case for Senator Quinn when he said that nowadays people are using a computer when they think about life assurance policies.
I can remember people such as he described before. Many people tried to get a widow in the village where I lived to take out life assurance so that she had some sort of income. I do not know what happened her filing system when she died. Now we have to make sure everything is published in a way that can be looked up by most modern people. Some of these will be insurance policies taken out years ago and much younger people will be looking them up, either for relatives or for friends who perhaps do not have access to the Internet.
Dr. Henry: We have arrived at the real issue, namely, the contention that the audience in question is not computer literate and consists of old people, like myself, who will not look at the website. Has the Minister of State considered what happened in the context of the overseas accounts, bogus or otherwise?
How often have we read in the newspaper about children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews trying to attend to these matters on behalf of people who are not in a position to do so themselves? Some members of the target audience will have difficulty remembering the company with which they hold policies. It is these people who will ask younger relatives to find out on their behalf. While we can rule out the possibility that they will look up Iris Oifigiúil , at least they will be able to persuade others to use the Internet to try to find the information they require. The nature of the audience is the reason we need to have the information notified on websites.
Visit the Irish Government Website for the full text of this speech: Click Here
