Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions on insurance, an issue that I have raised in these Houses. The cost of insurance was the topic for my inaugural speech because it was one of the issues that was mentioned the most when my party and I talked to people on their doorsteps. I am sure the delegation is aware of the situation. However, I must keep putting it on the record that the cost of insurance is still a huge issue for people. In particular, it compromises our competitiveness and must be tackled. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, worked on the issue when he was the Minister of State at the Department of Finance. His successor, Deputy Michael D'Arcy, is working on the issue and has been very open to suggestions.

My questions are on the insurance industry as a whole. I constantly hear that legal fees and costs have increased and this matter has been debated. The problem that I have is that there is buoyancy in terms of insurance products. I mean by this that product development and product take-up has also increased presumably due to this country's economic progression. The same applies to car sales, house sales and products in general, so clearly business has increased.

Let us say an insurer has an insurance product with a specific risk, brand name and fee. I have learned that some people in the sector take that same insurance product and risk but give it a different brand name and charge a different fee. Can the witnesses confirm whether that is happening in the sector?