The Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Noel Treacy, has defended his decision to drop commission disclosure from a draft regulation on life assurance.

Mr Treacy also expressed disappointment that confidential discussion documents had been leaked. Details of the draft proposal were disclosed in yesterday's Irish Times.

In a statement the Minister insisted that he is "pursuing a disclosure regime and details are still a matter of consultation with the parties. I hope they will be concluded as soon as possible".

He said his proposals, which will provide for disclosure of the total charges made against life assurance policies but would not break down the separate commission or company costs, would "exceed the minimum disclosure required under EU law... and will be highly transparent, simple to understand, user friendly and consistent across the insurance industry."

The Minister said that broad agreement had been reached on the proposal to oblige suppliers of life insurance products to provide a tabular statement that will show total deductions, including commissions and charges, for each year of the policy.

But Mr Treacy's decision to drop the specific disclosure of commission has been fiercely criticised by former Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Mr Pat Rabbitte. Mr Rabbitte said that in his time in the office "no advice was offered to me from within the Department to suggest anything other than this disclosure was a desirable and necessary consumer protection measure. The industry itself was divided on the matter".