Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. In terms of insurance, if they want paperwork to verify that people who have comprehensive insurance have been sneakily done out of this money because of the small print, I will give it to them in a few minutes. I have dealt with people with comprehensive insurance who thought they were covered for everything but who today are left with bills they cannot afford to pay.

We need to examine the entire insurance industry. Some insurance companies are pricing lower but when one reads the small print they are not offering the same cover. That is wrong because there are people, especially in the west, who have lost two cars and cannot afford to repair them. The way the insurance industry has handled that is disgusting.

We are trying to find a needle in a haystack. We talk about solving this problem. Revenue cannot solve it. Cars travel from filling station to filling station. We talk about taking people to court but one has to be able to prove where one got every drop of petrol. It is almost a non-runner. We should face up to these facts.

I have written letters to the Department of Finance, the insurance companies and everyone I could think of but they all say it is not their problem and that I should try someone else. Someone has to face up to this reality and if the insurance companies are to be honourable, especially with the people who have comprehensive insurance, they should stand up and be counted on this issue. They should forget about the clause in the small print that has caught out these people. I urge the witnesses to do that.