Mr. Bernard Sheridan:

I know people who have seen these large spikes in premiums. This does feed in to how people conduct their lives. It makes it more challenging.

Back to our role in terms of pricing, I must stress that we cannot, through the consumer protection framework, undermine the fact that we are precluded from controlling the rates that insurance companies charge. Those are commercial matters for the insurance companies themselves.

In terms of consumer protection, consumers want and assume the insurance company will be there at the end of the day to pay out on claims and, as Dr. Roux mentioned already, claims are being paid out which represent the premiums that have been paid in over the years. We have seen the detriment that occurs when insurance fails and a key consumer protection function we have is ensuring those firms are solvent at the end of the day and can meet their obligations.

The framework in place in Ireland is ahead of that in most European countries in terms of what we are doing for consumers and in terms of the staff who work in insurance companies meeting minimum competency standards. We have rules in place and regulations, in terms of renewal notices and in terms of ensuring claims handling is fair and appropriate, and we also regulate the intermediary sector. We do a lot in consumer protection, but in terms of price control, that is clearly something we cannot intervene on.