Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Listening to the disaster that has fallen on the witnesses' business, essentially they are saying that insurance is strangling SMEs because it is unpredictable, expensive and who knows what will happen tomorrow in terms of whether it will be available. First, have they compared the North and the Republic in this regard? Are there processes in the North that we might examine in the sense of an all-Ireland approach, which might make it easier?

Second, as somebody who goes occasionally to play centres with children which, as Ms Murray said, are popular now for children's parties, it could it be made clearer to people using them at the beginning in what effectively would be a disclaimer notice to the effect that they are using the premises at their own risk unless something very serious happens. Leaving aside the question of responsibility, as she and others said, accidents happen. That is the reason we pay insurance. However, could clear information be given on behalf of insurance companies, not the business, on how they approach it and that people are there effectively at their own risk unless something very serious happens?

The other aspect, which is often a contributory issue, is a person suffering relatively minor injuries. There is a series of 24-hour accident centres in the Dublin area, where one can get treatment. Would it be possible to develop a system where if somebody gets a bad bang, such as a suspected fracture, that could be addressed quite quickly? That requires disclosure as soon as possible, which is essential, but do the witnesses believe there are ways and means by which we can address that? At a local level,there are local enterprise offices. Could a package of information be put together for SMEs but also for the customer because, as a previous speaker said, many people do not make claims because they feel empathy with the business owner and they do not want to make a claim? However, sometimes, because of a lack of attention at the time, it develops into something bigger and then resentment, expectations and so on set in and it becomes a difficult road.