Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have considerable experience in the insurance industry. It is very easy to kick the industry. Given what has happened with PMPA and Quinn Insurance, Ireland has not had a great track record with Irish-owned insurance companies. We need to be mindful of that. If FBD were not in the insurance market in Ireland, we would be totally at the mercy of the German, British and French insurance companies. People might like to bash them, but FBD is an Irish-owned company listed on the Irish Stock Exchange which provides many jobs here. Many of its competitors are totally Internet based and provide few, if any, jobs in Ireland. It is good to have an Irish-owned company that has a face. FBD has an extensive operation in my town, Mullingar, including an extensive call centre. As members will be aware, many call centres are not based in Ireland, the staff are not Irish and it can be frustrating to try to get one's point across. That has not been overlooked, certainly in the business community.

Is FBD very vulnerable, as the only real Irish entity in the insurance business? These larger European conglomerates can squeeze the markets. There was common abuse with the undercutting of prices to try to squeeze competitors out of the market. Is FBD still vulnerable to that? Is much of FBD's book being underwritten by some of these larger insurers? FBD used to do most of its own underwriting but I do not know if that has changed. Could it be bullied at the will of some of the bigger British, German or French operators? I am sure the company faces financial constraints on how it positions its cashflow, etc. How does it stand in an international market in a free open-trading society like Ireland as part of the EU? How does that affect FBD as an Irish operator?