Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have the Central Bank telling us that a number of insurance companies acted imprudently, built up unsustainable overheads and, in doing so, eroded their capital bases. This puts the risk of solvency right at the heart of it. The Central Bank watched all of this happening, but it did absolutely nothing. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in prices for consumers who saw increases of 28% last year and increases of 70% in recent years. Rather than acting properly, the insurance companies took people on a peak-to-trough rollercoaster ride as they tried to follow the market. Was it not the job of the Central Bank to say that this policy was imprudent? The companies' underwriting was imprudent because they were building up unsustainable overheads. As a result, they eroded their capital base. Was it not the job of the Central Bank to step in at some point in time and say that this was not in line with its view of best risk management practice for this industry?