Donegal’s Pearse Doherty TD has been named as the Politician of the Year 2019 by the Irish Times.
Columnist Miriam Lord chose the Sinn Féin deputy as Ireland’s top politician for his battle against Ireland’s insurance industry.
Also naming him as a “contender for Shoutiest Politician of the Year”, Lord wrote that Doherty’s “work in taking on the insurance industry and keeping a spotlight on its practices has been a rare highlight.”
The Sinn Fein Finance Spokesperson has had notable success this past year with his Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill passing all stages of the Oireachtas. It is due to be signed into law by the end of the year.
Doherty also earned praise this year for his challenging of insurance company chiefs during Oireachtas Finance Committees.
Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson @PearseDoherty has called out the insurance industry for magnifying the scale of the issue of fraudulent claims in order to justify their high premiums and increases. pic.twitter.com/jaR5kH2dFr
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) July 5, 2019
Writing in her end of year review, Lord commented on ‘Dogged Doherty’, saying: “One video of Pearse in action at a committee filleting representatives of the sector for allegedly overstating fraudulent claims amassed more than half a million views.
“Doherty has maintained a sharp focus on the insurance crisis and its alarming nationwide impact on small businesses and community projects.
“The situation is becoming a big general election issue, with dogged Doherty capturing the pre-election moral high ground for his party as he keeps up pressure on the big companies for “price-gouging consumers with rip-off premiums”.”
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