Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I believe it is astonishing that that information has not been shared before now. There were probably 13 different bodies in here before Insurance Ireland. Consistency is a word that the witnesses said was very important in the insurance industry. Consistently, those bodies have told us that the information they need is not being provided and is being kept hidden from them. It is for companies trying to enter the market to say whether the lack of data is an impediment to them or not. We need to get to the bottom of this. However, I am satisfied leaving here today that the witnesses are saying that absolutely any information that the Central Bank wants in regard to the insurance industry will be provided by Insurance Ireland in a timely and up-to-date manner. That should at least give us something to work on because so far we have been unable to do the analysis. It is important that it is the non-interpreted data and the raw data that are provided. I believe we have made some progress even in the past 20 minutes in this regard. It is unbelievable that it has not been done to date. Either the Central Bank or other bodies have not requested it or it has not been provided.

Obviously, the information is there. If I was running a small corner business, I would know how many of each item I was selling and how much profit I was making from each one. I would have to know that. It is hard to believe that an industry the size of the insurance industry does not have all of this information to be able to plan forward and, as the Chairman said, to be able to project increases for the next year and the year after. I see that even FBD are looking forward to a profitable 2017. The other insurance companies' profits were up 39%. It is a very profitable industry and we are told that it is not. It is more profitable than the UK. There are profits to be made here. Competitors do want to enter the market and we are trying to examine why they are not. What they are telling us is that the data are not available. That is the crux of what we are trying to get at. If we have truth and transparency, I believe we can get to the bottom of this with all of us working collectively.