Mr. Liam Downey:

VHI has no particular position on that issue. I do not have a view on it. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked about the reward for attracting younger people. That is linked with the question to which I referred of policy proliferation, etc. With the advent of competition, there has been much greater segmentation of the market. It is much more attractive for insurers if they can look to get as many of the younger cohort of the population as possible on the books and avoid taking those with the highest number of claims. Generally, as one might expect, younger people incur fewer and lower claims, while older people incur a higher cost. It is attractive for the competition to target young people so as to gain the premiums without the costs. VHI has a 57% market share but a much higher proportion of claims and costs because it has older members. We must have a level playing pitch in how the market is conducted, which is what community rating and risk equalisation provide. Those who target only younger people should not be rewarded for doing so. The basics of competition in the market should be level for everybody; that is why the risk equalisation scheme is so important. It compensates for the incentive to only target the young section of the market.

There was a question about the conflict between my role as chairman-----