Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My last question relates to the amended motion that passed through the Dáil asking the finance committee to hold these hearings, which I have been through. This issue is what drives a lot of people crazy. The fact we have seen a 70% increase in insurance premiums is absolutely unforgivable. I believe there is a rip-off culture and a gouging of customers. That is my view but we will hear all the evidence and we will hear from the insurance sector. I am open to being convinced but I think it will fail to convince me. One thing I cannot understand is how certain people who have been insured with a company, who have not had any accidents in the previous 12 months and who have not received any penalty points in the last 12 months are seeing not a 38% or a 40% increase in their premiums but a 200% and 300% increase in their premiums. We, as a State, cannot interfere with the setting of prices by the insurance industry but it has a legal obligation to base those prices on the basis of risk. My understanding from speaking to people within the sector is that the insurance companies simply want these individuals off their books. They have too many 42-year-old women living in rural Ireland on their books and they just need them gone so what they do is spit out a 200% increase. How could that happen? What is happening here?