Mr. Ivan Cooper:

It had no claims. The increases that these organisations are having to contend with are not being catered for by the funding authorities. This is putting such organisations in a real and serious bind. Contrary to what has come forward so far, we have evidence of organisations that are cutting back, suspending services and even closing down. I will conclude on this point. The email in question continues:

It is the view of the board that the insurance company has no justification whatsoever for these levels of increases, either on a professional or ethical level. Such increases are morally reprehensible. It amounts to legalised extortion. [The organisation] has conducted its operations, programmes and projects for the past 39 years to the highest levels of professionalism, compliance and health and safety. Our governance exceeds the required levels of all Government funding Departments. What makes this massive increase more astonishing and appalling is the fact that the organisation has an exemplary track record in terms of its insurance and claims history. There is no history of claims, other than one outstanding "spurious and unproven" claim relating to the lifting of a table.

That is what is going on. I am under terrible pressure. I thank the committee for accommodating me in this way. There have been huge hikes in the absence of claims.

The issue here is that insurance costs are beginning to strangle the life out of community and voluntary organisations. A social enterprise that provides much-needed transport services to people with disabilities has seen its insurance premiums double from €65,000 to €130,000. As a result of these increased costs, the organisation has cut back on its services and reduced its workforce. It is paying more for insurance than it is paying for petrol as it provides disability transport services, if members can imagine that. It appears that what is everyone's responsibility appears to be nobody's responsibility.

Our view is that there is a market failure here. It is incumbent on our Legislature to get to grips with it, understand it and put in place the correctives that are needed. The character of our local communities is at risk here. It is virtually impossible to raise funds to meet the cost of insurance. State funders are not prepared to increase the amount of funding required to meet insurance costs. As a result, our communities will be degraded by reduced activity or the cessation of services. Voluntary board members give freely of their time and have to cope with ever-increasing compliance requirements across the board. The cost of insurance has brought some of them to breaking point. I thank the committee for accommodating me.